Voice of Angel
by WordPainter15
Summary: Sinnoh Champion Cynthia never expected meeting the no name trainer when visiting Kalos, but she never regretted it. A six year old prodigy trainer and her partner, Calamity the Absol, never knew that they'd ever have another person to call family adoption AU set in anime world with games or magna references
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Angel and the plot._

 _Before reading: first fanfiction. I know trainers are suppose to be ten, but accept my exception. Pokemon names will not be capitalized if referring to the Pokemon as its species._

The six year old fiddles her platinum blonde hair around with her fingers as she waits, crouched behind the flower cart of a roadside vendor for the hoard of trainers to disperse from view. She releases a calming breath as she stands from the position she had resumed to avoid being trampled and turns to the woman manning the flower stand.

"What's going on?"

"Hm," the woman asks as she looks up at her interrogator, "Oh. There's a World Tournament Junior Cup going on over the next few days. Apparently some real big shots are coming from different regions to spectate and battle." The old lady smiles at the child, "You should go watch. It's free entry," She smiles slightly when she spots the black luxury ball positioned on her trainer belt, "Or perhaps you would prefer a taste of battle."

The girl lovingly runs a finger over her pokeball and feels it wriggle under her fingers as the pokemon inside responds. She returns her attention back to the vendor, "Maybe. My partner may not be up for it."

"Oh? What type of pokemon is your partner. A froakie? I hear they're very fast. A feisty Fennekin or perhaps a powerful chespin?"

"Huh? Oh, I see. I don't own one of the Kalos starters," The girl continued at the woman's puzzled look, "It's a long story, but the short version is that when I was four I found a baby pokemon in the forest. We haven't parted since."

"That's sweet. So, what type of pokemon is it? You have to tell me now!"

The blonde child smiled before she unlatched the ball from her belt and it enlarged in her palm. She nudged the button and a white beam erupted from the opening sphere, "Calamity, curtain call!"

The blinding light formed into a quadruped creature before disappearing to reveal the fabled white bearer of disaster. The absol landed gracefully on the ground after it backflipped in the air. A red horn glints in the sunlight as the mammalian creature straightened. A thin rope tied a blue stone around its neck.

"An absol! Although, I've never seen one quite like this."

"Calamity is no average absol. Have you ever heard of shiny pokemon?"

"Oh yes. Is your absol shiny?"

The child nodded before looking toward the battle facility that had rung a bell signaling noon.

"You should hurry before you can't register."

The blonde looked down in consideration. Her fingers fiddle with the rainbow stone connected by a chain around her palm. She looks up when her absol, Calamity, lifts it head before running off toward the blue building.

"Eh! Calamity where are you going? Sorry," She tells the street vendor before she dashes off.

The old woman smiles before turning back to the flowers to fix their appearance, "Too bad I didn't get her name. That sweet little girl is an angel though."

…

The Sinnoh League Champion pauses her walking to nibble the remainder of her ice cream cone. She raises a hand to wipe the excess from the corners of her mouth when her legs barrel forward without her consent. A thump below her head turns her attention away from reassuring herself that her body was indeed stabilized, to the small person on the ground who was rubbing her head. The child looks up at the person she had rammed into. The blonde girl scrambled to her feet and bowed in an apologetic stance, "I'm so sorry."

Cynthia smiles before placing a reassuring hand on the child's head. She frowns slightly when she notices the girl tense beneath her fingers. The champion is quick to remove her hand.

"It's okay. Why are you in such a rush?"

"My absol ran off in this direction," the child looks around her and slumps her shoulders in disappointment, "Aww she got away."

"I'll help you find it."

"Her. Calamity's a girl."

Cynthia smiles at her spunk, "Her then. I'll help you find her. Why don't we ask around." Cynthia moves to ask the Nurse Joy on station for the competition if she had seen the missing absol when a small hand catches the sleeve of her black coat. Questioning gray eyes swirl in her direction.

"Just give me a minute. I want to see if I can sense her."

Cynthia looks at her strangely, but doesn't question as the girl closes her violet eyes and folds her hands in concentration. Slate eyes watch as the child's fingers squeeze tighter and swears that she feels a slight pulse radiate from her body. The violet eyes burst open and focuses on the area to her left. A quick flash of white fur makes a smile flash against her face before she runs off. Cynthia straightens in surprise before rushing after the child.

…

The duo is greeted with the sight of each other's pokemon. The large garchomp seems to be having a conversation with the red absol. The absol doesn't seem to be much of a conversation partner, and prefers to just listen to the dragon's grunts and roars.

"Garchomp?"

The platinum blonde turns to the older woman, "Is that garchomp yours?" She analyzes the pokemon before turning her gaze to it's trainer, "I can see why Calamity ran off now."

"Huh?" Cynthia questions as she watches the girl approach the dragon.

Garchomp eyes the platinum approach waringly. She leans down to sniff the girl and nudges her hair in her investigation. The large head jerks up slightly when a ticklish giggle erupts from the child's throat. Calamity watches calmly before she begins to advance toward her trainer. Trainer and pokemon share a moment before the young girl raises a palm to stroke the creature's head. Cynthia blinks when an almost invisible aura radiates from her palm to cascade over the purple dragon. The giant beast nuzzles the girls palm and raises a claw to poke at the top of her hand gently.

"Magnificent. Such powerful potential," The girl murmurs before taking her hand away, much to the garchomp's disappointment.

"She likes you. That's a rarity. Are you competing?"

"Huh? Uh, I don't know. I didn't know it was going on and officially I don't have a complete trainer card inserted in the pokedex Professor Sycamore intrusted me with."

"A pokedex without proper identification? Identification only require a name and hometown to be verified by the professor of the acquired region."

"Eh? I don't exactly have the proper information."

"And why's that?" Cynthia asked.

"I don't have a name. Calamity and I just wonder around kind of. Official registration is needed to compete in the Kalos League, but not to participate in the gym circuit. Some gym leaders believe I'm too young and refuse my challenge."

"Nothing I can't handle. Come on," the champion grabs her hand and pulls her towards the receptionist. The woman at the desk looks up and stares awe struck at the professional trainer.

"Can I help you Ms. Cynthia?"

"This girl would like to enter."

"Oh, of course! I just need her identification." The lady chirps.

"Give me your pokedex for a minute. Garchomp why don't you show your new friends to the practice fields. I'll finish up here."

"But," the girl begins before the champion's garchomp herds the trainer and pokemon away.

When the three leave the woman meekly speaks up, "Excuse me ma'am, but this girl doesn't have a name registered."

"Huh? Oh, give me a minute." Cynthia ponders what she should say before remembering the girl's angelic smile, "Just put down Angel."


	2. Chapter 2

**So sorry! Didn't realize I posted chapter 1 twice! Real chapter 2**

Cynthia passes through the automatic doors to see her garchomp on the opposing side of a battle field with a certain red absol.

The indigo pokemon throws its head back as fire starts to boil in it's mouth. The blazing beam swirls towards the white pokemon. It remains eerily still as its trainer looks at the incoming ray. Violet eyes narrow before a hand suddenly waves up. A red head throws itself upward and howls out a battle cry. Blue stones erupt from the ground and raises the pokemon up from the ground away from the incoming blast. Fire breaks the stone propelling forward at the beast and sends the rock skywards. The child's hand motions down and the pokemon leaps off it's perch, using the stray pieces of rock as stepping stones to reach its target. It body becomes enveloped in a white aura and the absol uses its now enhanced speed to fly straight towards the dragon. Garchomp makes a sound of surprise at the sudden Quick Attack. Cynthia straightens when she sees the child nod when Calamity is only inches away. The red creature opens its mouth and releases a stream of crystallized ice at the stunned dragon.

Orders burst from the champion's mouth before she even could stop herself. "Garchomp, Dragon Claw!"

The beast answers instinctively and destroys the incoming ice with a light cloaked claw. Calamity flips backwards to avoid the explosion and lands delicately in front of its trainer, the glitter residue created by the burst halos its figure. It glances over its shoulder at its trainer when she doesn't call out a command. Its mouth drops slightly in disbelief when the platinum blonde nods for the pokemon to return. It makes no protest however and returns obediently. A loving hand runs through its fur.

"Done already Calamity? You were doing very good," Cynthia asks.

"She's just doing as I asked. Just as she always has. You're such a good girl." The blonde cooes as she hugs the pokemon tighter and is nuzzled by the larger animal's head.

"You didn't even have to vocalise. That's extremely impressive. How do you do it?"

A knowing smile stretches across the girl's face, "Any person can communicate with pokemon. I just seem to have an easier time than most. Physic pokemon create telepathic links with humans with the most ease, but it can be achieved by any type with any human."

Shock crosses the usually stoic champion's face, "You send directions through telepathic link?"

"Not exactly. It's not physical words in my head, more a tug on my heart. It's like, even with the briefest eye contact we can transfer thoughts with each other. Although I do seem to understand what most pokemon want to communicate, Calamity is the only one that I understand her to the point direct messages are not needed."

"I wish you would continue. It would be an honor to battle besides such a bonded pair."

"No thank you," She turns to watch Garchomp approach her trainer, "Calamity wanted to confirm the potential Garchomp radiates. Garchomp alone projects such a powerful presence. I feel that the combination of you both would be way more than a little over my head and render my mind broken to strategic thought. We would be no match against you and Calamity could get injured. We just wanted a taste of such power, right Calamity?"

Calamity barks.

"Too bad. I wanted to watch you more." An announcement rings over the PA, calling all trainers to battle. Cynthia smiles and bends down to pick the child up. The blonde shrieks in reply and both tightly grips Cynthia's shirt and wriggles to free herself. The champion simply tightens her grip and smiles at the bewildered child kicking at air as if it would suddenly put the ground beneath her feet, "We better get moving."

…

"Welcome to Coumarine City's Junior Cup! I'm your host and we're going to see just what these trainer's got. Due to Diantha being on set for her new movie, the winner of this tournament receives a battle with the Sinnoh champion Cynthia! Now just because she isn't native should you let your guard down! Just to show you how powerful she is, our own elite four fiery member, Malva, has agreed to a battle!"

Roars erupted from the crowds as a spotlight lands on the pinkette. Her sunglasses glint in the ray as she gives a confident smirk and flicks the hair away from her face with the hand not resting on her hip.

"Now for the Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia!"

Another spotlight shines on the tunnel the blonde woman emerges from. People stare at her, confused, when she stops halfway to her end of the battle field and motions at the tunnel. They see a small girl sporting white hair pop a head out of the dark and, when she sees the staring spectators, sprints out of the tunnel and toward the side wall. The spotlight shifts to follow the intruder's spasmodic movement as she tries to avoid the limelight.

"What is a child doing here?" Malva hisses.

Cynthia turns a protective gaze at the woman, "She's with me as a spectator. A very formidable trainer as well. Isn't that right?" She asks the hiding child with a smile.

"Stop pointing me out and do your battle!" The six year old shrieks and further buries herself further into the little nook she found where the beam of light couldn't reach.

Cynthia chuckles before pulling a pokeball out of her pocket, "Alright Garchomp, battle dance!"

The dragon erupts from its pokeball and lands with a heavy thump on the dirt battlefield. An intimidating roar erupts as it gives a war cry.

"Alright Houndoom, show this wannabe how it's done!"

The feral dog like pokemon roared in reply to the dragon.

"You're the guest. You have first attack." Malva states as she straightens her sunglasses.

"If you insist. Alright Garchomp let us show them a dragon's fury. Giga Impact!"

The dragon does as commanded and rushes at its opponent as a golden aura surrounds the pokemon. The Houndoom dodges when told, but takes damage at its side for being too slow. It growls its pain as it crouches at the ground in a defensive pose.

"Houndoom, use Flamethrower!"

The flames burst from its mouth and speeds toward the beast with unavoidable speed. Garchomp roars in surprise and reels backwards slightly. Cynthia throws a hand out in retaliation.

"Stone edge!"

The monster responds and slams its clawed arms at the ground. Blue, iridescent stone propels the creature upward and blocks the flames. Cynthia smiles as the borrowed technique hits its mark. The houndoom barks in shock as it's hit face on with the attack. Before Malva can even call out a command, Cynthia yells out another order, "Garchomp, use Dragon Rush!"

The dragon jumps up and its body is enveloped in a blue light. The light's tendrils form a dragon's head as the powerful pokemon charges at the houndoom frozen in fear. Waves of energy burst outward when the two collide. The dust clears to reveal a fainted houndoom and a roaring garchomp.

"And the victory goes to Cynthia of Sinnoh!"

Cheers erupt from the crowd as people stand. A red beam cloaks the victor as it is returned to its capsule. Silence quickly follows however when the platinum blonde rushes onto the field and crouches beside the fallen pokemon who had regained consciousness. A calming hand stops the growls it emits as it runs over the dark pokemon's head and snout. That barely visible aura radiating as the palm calms the dog like creature. A soft tune is whispered into the houndoom's ear. Malva walks toward the two and the pokemon returns to its trainer's side. The pinkette places a hand on it's head.

"Good job Houndoom. Are you okay?"

A reassuring bark sounds.

"Hmph. As much as I hate to admit it, you have a talent with pokemon. Houndoom hates strangers. However, that doesn't make you a strong trainer," Malva backhandedly compliments.

"Your houndoom shows great potential like Cynthia's garchomp. Your bond is strong. Houndoom thinks very highly like you."

"Uh, thank you?" Malva smirks, "At least you know a good pokemon when you see it. Houndoom, return." A red beam of light calls the pokemon back to its ball, "Hmph, are you participating?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Well brat, I anticipate watching you either rise to the challenge or burn to the ground," With those parting words the elite four member struts out of her tunnel.

Cynthia approaches and places a hand on the girl's head. It is immediately shaken off and a slight glare is thrown her way.

"Approval from Malva? Incredible! What's your name little lady." The host asks.

The blonde stares at him blankly and pivots quickly when Cynthia answers for her.

"Call her Angel."


	3. Chapter 3

"And it's Angel for the win! The little lady has won the Junior Cup with her dominating absol, Calamity. You know what that means folks! She battling Cynthia! Return in an hour to watch this thrilling battle! It's sure to be great!"

The crowd cheers as the opposing flareon is returned to its ball. The young boy sighs in disappointment and thanks the pokemon inside its ball. The two meet at the center and the youngster leans down slightly to shake Angel's hand. Calamity waits calmly for the two to part before approaching her trainer. She rubs her head against the girl side and Angel laughs when the forces causes her to stumble. She stops choking her pokemon in a death grip when two shadows hover above her. Angel stands up straight to see Malva and Cynthia looking down at her.

"You scorched the competition brat. Come see me when you're older and maybe by then you'll be strong enough to take me on. I'm out, but I'm going to be watching your match over the holo caster."

The fiery woman smirks and gives a salute before sashaying out of the arena with the rest of the crowd. Cynthia smiles and pats the child's head. Unlike her reaction three days ago, Angel smiles slightly and just lets out a giggle.

"Great job Angel."

"It was all Calamity."

The absol starts to bark in protest and only hushes when Angel places a calming hand on her head.

"A pokemon's power only reaches its full potential when it and its trainers hearts are in sync. Your bond is shown through your battle. I must ask though, how come you've been yelling your commands."

Angel looks up and smiles, "Because it's more fun! That's what this tournament's all about, at least for us. We give it our all. Silent communication is more strategic. It's kind of an unfair advantage don't you think?"

Cynthia smiles, "Well no holding back on me, okay?"

Angel nods. Her smile starts to slip and is replaced with a blush when her stomach loudly grumbles for food. Cynthia chuckles before taking the child's hand and leading them out of the stadium. Right before they reach the tunnel entrance, she glances down at the child when she feels her arm starting to drag behind her to see the girl was semi-running to keep up with her fast paced companion. The champion slows her pace to a stop. Angel takes a breath and Calamity nudges her for support.

"Sorry. I'll slow down." The two continue through the stadium door at a more leisurely pace, "Let's get lunch. Coumarine City has a restaurant in their Hotel Coumarine."

"That's okay. Nurse Joy has been very nice with the board and meals at the center." Angel insists as she attempts to make her way to the red roofed building.

"Come on. We can have ice cream for dessert."

Cynthia looks at the girl she named tilt her head in confusion, "Ice cream? Wait, is that the creamy stuff you're always eating when you meet me at the stadium gate in the morning."

The look Angel receives from the champion makes her think she committed a capital offense. A yelp is released when Cynthia suddenly reaches down and sweeps the girl into her arms. Angel places a death grip on the collar of Cynthia's summer shirt, the champion had learned after the first tournament day that Coumarine was not cold enough for a black dress. She gives the woman a glare as she scrambles to straighten herself as she's jostled due to Cynthia's running.

"You need to stop doing this!" The platinum yells when Cynthia assists in her crusade to put her in a more comfortable position, "I should choke you!"

Cynthia laughs as she hugs the child a little closer before relenting and putting her on the ground in front of the monorail entrance. She gives Angel a sideways hug and pushes her through the gate onto the train.

Angel didn't usually frequent the hotel chain that spotted the Kalos region. Hotels cost money, so while they may not be extremely comfortable than the PokeCenter's complementary bunk and meals would always suffice. Unlike Cynthia, Angel wasn't paid to be a trainer, as was any trainer not working for a company or part of the Pokemon League Challenge. The young trainer hid behind the champion's legs as the two delved deeper into the hotel. At least it wasn't Hotel Richissime from her hometown, Lumiose.

Angel looks at the bowl placed in front of her. Her spoon pokes at the white ball sitting in the center of her bowl for the tenth time in the past ten minutes.

"Stop playing with it and just eat it. You'll like it I promise."

Angel looked at the dessert with hesitation. She takes some of the fluff on top and stuffs it in her mouth. When she swallows, her violet eyes look up.

"It looks much more solid when I saw you eat it."

Cynthia chuckles at her error, "That's whipped cream Angel. The ice creams below it."

The young girl's cheeks redden in embarrassment but finds the actual treat. Her flush is forgotten the moment the cold dessert is noticed by her tastebuds and the bowl is quickly pulled forward to be devoured.

"Careful now. You'll get a brain freeze."

Angel looks at her doubtingly with full cheeks, but complies. Cynthia smiles and steals some whipped cream off the child's bowl, for her's had emptied long before Angel had even started.

…

"Here we are folks! After a short break we are back to witness a champion against this rising star! We present Cynthia of Sinnoh's Celestic Town vs. Angel of Kalos' Lumiose City! This is a one on one battle and who's ever pokemon faints first is the loser."

Cheers echo throughout the arena as both trainers are revealed on the battlefield. Cynthia moves her hair out of her eyes before a red and white pokeball is hurled outward above the dirt.

"Now Garchomp, battle dance."

A white beam momentarily blinds the field from view before Garchomp and all her glory resonates a roar throughout the arena. The purple dragon lets out an excited battle cry at Angel.

"We've been waiting for this," Cynthia admits. "Garchomp has been awaiting this battle."

A bellowing roar confirms the dragon's feelings. A few spectators slightly shiver in discomfort.

"Well, got to keep a pokemon like Garchomp happy. Besides, Calamity desires to see Garchomp's true power!" The black pokeball is revealed before it is tossed up into the air. "Let's put on a show. Calamity, curtain call!"

As expected, the red absol burst from the ball to slice through the air. A battle cry resonates as it lands nimbly in front of her trainer. Sunlight glints off its red horn and illuminates the creature's fur. It's front crouches as it waits for an order.

"You have first move sweetheart," Cynthia reminds sweetly.

"You're the champion, and officially you challenged me. I'm perfectly content with saying you win."

"Aw, you're no fun Angel. Alright, we'll attack first. Garchomp, Dig!"

The purple beast burrows into the ground and spectators hold a baited breath as they wait for Angel's first command. Confusion radiates when Angel doesn't even react, nor does she call out a command. Calamity stance matches her trainer, with her greenish eyes closed in relaxation. Her front legs shifted slightly so that one stood in front of the other as it straightens. Its neck tuff puffs out as it raises its head.

"You're awfully calm considering my garchomp is currently burying under your feet. Garchomp attack!"

Noise is heard below as the monster attempts to confuse the opponent before striking. Everyone jumps in surprise when the two simultaneously open their eyes. They both jump to the side in synchronization and barely dodge the torpedo of muscle. Garchomp launches into the air and turns to look at the two below her. Shock crosses the champions face when she notices the quadruped is unharmed. A pale hand waves up and the red beast propels upwards.

"Remarkable! First it managed to dodge Garchomp's attack and now an absol using Bounce! What's this?" The announcer trails off when Angel makes a swiping motion with her hand and, in response, Calamity's signature scythe begins to glow an iridescent green and lengthens. It flips and rams its horn into Garchomp's neck, effectively forcing the creature back to the ground.

"That was a crit everyone!" The announcer shouted over the loudspeaker as both pokemon returned to their sides of the battlefield. Garchomp raises a claw to its injured neck.

"Calamity's ability is Super Luck. It helps deliver a little extra punch don't you think?"

"Impressive. Use Brick Break," Cynthia commands, using her opponent's momentary distraction in her favor.

The absol is thrown into the wall behind Angel. She gasps as the force cracks the wall and the pokemon falls to the ground.

"That might be it folks. That Brick Break is super effective."

Calamity stands, much to everyone's bewilderment. Severe damage is shows by the way power still crackles around the heavily panting pokemon and by the way it almost falls over again when it attempts to stand. Angel straightens in concern and motions her head back. Calamity shakes her head no and stares intently at her trainer. Angel releases a small laugh that was considered more of a shaky breath before she releases a real sigh. A smile stretches across her face.

"If that's what you want, then let's do it." The shiny pokemon leaps in front of her trainer. Violet eyes clash with gray, "We'll show you our true power. Calamity, mega evolve!"

"What?" Cynthia gasps as tendrils of energy project from the absol's necklace and her trainer's hand chain. "Those are mega stones?"

Light envelops the creature and the outline of wings sprout from the creature's back. A deafening cry is released as the light breaks apart. The creature's wings flare as it crouches into an attack pose.

"Absol just mega evolved! Absol just mega evolved!" The announcer yells out in excitement.

"Calamity may be powered up, but the damage dealt is still just as effective. So let's put a timer on this match. Calamity, Perish Song!"

The red creature opens its mouth and a red aura lines its body. Wavy currents of dark crimson and black power show the path of the shrieking howl and Garchomp takes a step back. Both pokemon and trainer step back as Cynthia ponders what she should do next.

"Well this is a change of events."

"Your move Cynthia. Better make it quick."

Cynthia ground her teeth slightly, "Garchomp, Dragon Rush!"

The blue energy morphs into a dragon's silhouette around the mach pokemon and Calamity grunted in frustration when her body stiffens in anticipation. Angel closed her eyes tight as a foreboding shutter forces both younger trainer and pokemon downwards. A resonating thud is heard when the dragon collides into the mega evolved pokemon head on. It zooms upwards away from the dispersing dust. The fading debris clears. Calamity stands in a crouch, barely hovering above the ground. As the absol stumbles light cloaks its body as its magnificent wings retreat into its back and restores its original form. People gasp when the white guardian finally collapses on the ground.

"Angel!" Cynthia yells when she sees the blond fall to her knees.

The champion and her garchomp rush across the broken field and kneel beside the child. She puts a hand on her shoulder as she tries to figure out why her breathing was so labored and the cause of the sheen of sweat lining her forehead. Violet eyes open as traces of pain start to dispel from her irises. The platnium's head falls forward onto the champion's shoulder and shifts upward when she sees Garchomp gently place a stirring Calamity on the ground before her. A pale hand reaches out to rub the creature's head. The pokemon lets out an apologetic bark.

"It's not your fault. We knew we most likely wouldn't beat them, but you wanted to try as hard as you could anyway. I usually wouldn't take on an opponent I know would pummel us," Angel shifts so she's sitting instead of kneeling, "But we learned a lot didn't we Calamity?"

The red creature barks in agreement and turns to Garchomp. Its head dips in respect to the champions before helping her trainer stand. The child places a hand out for Cynthia to shake.

"Thank you for the experience. We learned a lot."

Cynthia smiles and shakes the smaller hand. She uses her free hand to give her a pat on the head.

"That mega evolution caught me off guard. I'm a little puzzled though. I assume that you and Calamity would know a protective or avoidance attack. I was waiting for an ice shard or another ice type attack." The champion admits as she removes her hand.

Angel shrugged before looking down at Calamity, "We both just got caught up in the moment. Dragon Rush is an attack that freezes the enemy in anticipation, if not fear. Calamity froze and so did I." Angel stuck a hand behind her neck and smiled sheepishly. Calamity, feeling revived, jumps in front of the champion and her ace and barks wildly. Cynthia looks on in confusion when Garchomp gives a nod.

Angel laughs before she explains, "Calamity declared a rematch in the future and Garchomp agreed."

"Well I'm looking forward to it," She paused for a second before adding, "You were wonderful Angel."

The child smiles widens


	4. Chapter 4

The champion enters the PokeCenter to a peculiar sight. Calamity was resting out in the sun on a piece of bedding, but Angel seemed to have disappeared. The blonde turns to see the child run up and pat her partner on the head before dashing toward the door, satchel flapping against her side. Her movements are halted when she trips over the tips of her sneakers. Cynthia throws out her arms and catches the girl.

"Careful."

"Thanks Cynthia."

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" The adult asks as she straightens the child.

"It's Pledging Day! I have to go get my gift for Calamity. That tournament finally gave me enough savings." The little girl rambles excitedly as she hitches her strap up higher on her shoulder.

"Pledging Day?" Cynthia repeats.

"Yeah! It's part of the Coumarine City Festival. I don't know all the details cuz I only learned of the celebration last year when I visited for the first time, but the story goes like this. A trainer and his partner went on a journey, and at the end settled down in the land that would become this city. He gave his pokemon a tree to symbolise their friendship and that tree still stands in Coumarine today. The tradition of Pledging Day is to buy a gift for your pokemon and present it to your pokemon under the tree after sun down. Myth states that the bond between pokemon and trainer strengthens when this ritual is performed. Calamity and I made a promise to come every year and do Pledging Day. That's why I showed up. You didn't think all those decorations were for the Junior Cup did you?"

"I did think it was a little strange that the citizens were dollying the place up for a tournament. Well would you care if I joined you? My pokemon would love this tradition."

"Sure!"

"Alright, everyone, I want you to meet somebody."

Six pokeballs release their inhabitants in a row. Calamity stands and stretches in a feline manner before approaching the commotion. She stands next to her trainer and stares at the new arrivals.

"Angel meet the rest of my team. Gastrodon, Glaceon, Togekiss, Lucario, and Spiritomb. I have a few others that were left in Sinnoh. You'll have to meet them sometime."

The avian pokemon is the first to approach the disaster pokemon. It chirps a greeting and holds out a wing. The absol bumps it with her horn in greeting. Lucario is next; it bumps a fist against one of the white creature's paws. The dog-like pokemon turns toward Angel and lets out its signature cry.

"Huh?" Angel murmurs as she looks in Lucario's eyes. A spark seems to connect their eyes before Lucario and Angel nod in respect at each other.

Lucario motions the others forward and the other pokemon start sparking conversation with the absol. Angel jumps when Spiritomb spooks her from behind. The girl jumps behind Cynthia.

"Spiritomb stop that. That wasn't nice." The ghost's circular shape droops at the scolding.

Angel giggles and approaches the phantom. Who let's out a small cry of apology.

"Aw, it's okay." The pokemon expands and squishes its body into silly shapes to make the girl laugh again. It retreats into its stone when Cynthia looks at it in an aggravated manner.

"You six be nice to Calamity. We'll be back later, okay?"

The champion team lets out contrasting cries in response that somehow meld together to form a unified, regal sound. Calamity receives a pat on the head as the two leave them to mingle.

…

"What is that?" Cynthia questions as she watches Angel admire the trinket in her hand.

"A mega stone pendant for Calamity. I got it commissioned the night after the first day of the Cup. Look!"

The silver pendant is shoved in her face and Cynthia studies the design. A abstract heart holds the divot for the mega stone and silver wings branch from the sides. An obvious reference to Calamity's mega form.

"It's beautiful."

"Thanks. I drew it up myself. Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy myself a proper keystone hand chain. They're rare to find and expensive to boot. But at least Calamity has a proper pendant now. No more rope." Angel chirps as she places i back in its protective case. "I'm going to go wrap it then put it under the tree. I'll meet you at the decoration stand to help you get your pokemon's gifts wrapped when you finished finding them all. See you later!" The little girl waves before she runs off.

Cynthia watches her go before entering a shop to buy her gift for Spiritomb, a large ball to replace the one it popped. As she purchased it at the counter she looked at the salesperson.

"Where could I get an object to hold a keystone to a trainer."

"Huh? Oh, yeah! There is a shop that specialises in that stuff. Two buildings down across the street."

"Thank you."

The slate eyes analyze the many accessories on the shelves and in the window. A saleswoman approaches the conflicted champion.

"Can I help you miss?"

"Maybe. I'm looking for a hand chain for a friend to replace the one she has now."

"A hand chain? Those are barely made. N fact I think they're only found here and Lumiose where we ship them out. Tell you the truth they just started becoming popular. Apparently a designer saw a little girl with a shiny absol wearing a handmade one last year and decided to create more designs off it. We have a reject that our designer made but decided not to release due to it's lack of popularity at the release, but since it's almost one of a kind it might empty your pockets."

"Money's not a problem. Can I see it?"

The woman nodded and went behind a counter to retrieve a flat box. She places it on the glass and removes the lid. Cynthia smiles, "Perfect."

Angel jumps up when the champion finally comes into sight with a plethora bags hanging from her arms.

"You take forever."

"I have six pokemon to run around looking for. You have one."

Angel doesn't respond and instead turns the vendor and starts rattling off colors to the salesman. He replies and starts digging up rolls of colorful paper for Cynthia to pick from.

…

The seven pokemon and their trainers watch in awe as the city gym leader, Ramos, illuminates the lights climbing the colossal tree. Gasps of awe are released from their mouths as the tree shines radiantly amongst the dark, night sky. Angel rushes forward and grabs the two trainer's presents. Or, at least, she tries to. Cynthia releases a sigh and has her Lucario use Psychic to levitate the falling gifts the little one kept dropping. The gifts are placed on the ground before the large group. She takes one off the top and presents it to Calamity.

"Here you go Calamity!"

Teeth gently undo to ribbon and tear at the wrapping paper. Shredded pieces fall onto the picnic blanket below them and Angel hastily opened the box. The pokemon's face alights with joy as the pendant is fastened around her neck. Her absolite shines in the twinkle lights' glow.

"I designed it myself!"

Cynthia's pokemon take the head rub as a sign Calamity's spotlight is over and tears the paper off their gifts. Spiritomb attacks the large, red ball out of its box and starts chewing on it like a canine pokemon. Lucario takes a few practice swings with his wooden rod and Togekiss chirps happily as Angel fluffs up her bow. Glaceon admires the shiny snow globe and releases a happy cry at Gastrodon who was is staring at the shellos plush in wonder. Garchomp happily munches on her favorite dessert.

Pokemon and people alike turn when they see Angel jump and start digging through her satchel. Her hands drag up a wrapped box. She rushes to Cynthia's side and pushes it nervously towards her.

"H-here. It's f-for you and G-Garchomp."

Garchomp stomps over and taps the gift with her claw in curiousity. Cynthia takes the gift and her hands gauge the weight. Too curious for her own good she quickly grabs at the paper and lifts the wooden cover. Surprise crosses her features when a rainbow colored stone and iridescent purple with a red center glow up at her. Two chains are placed in a divot to the side.

"It's a keystone and garchompite. I wanted to get you two proper holders, but I couldn't afford it. Calamity and I used some chains to fashion pendants instead. They'll work until you can get proper equipment."

Slate eyes glance at the child before her, "Where did you find these?"

"Huh? Oh, that's easy. Calamity likes the mountain so we go hiking sometimes. I found these two stone a few months ago! Do you like it?"

Cynthia places the garchompite inside its chain pendant and Garchomp leans down so it can be fastened around her neck. The blonde examines her chain and smiles when she sees it's also a hand accessory. Angel looks up at her, uncertain.

"I wasn't sure what kind of accessory you'd like, so I just made you one like mine."

Champion and pokemon look at eachother and smile before turning grins at the fidgeting girl, "We love it. Right, Garchomp."

The dragon let's out a thundering cry before poking a claw at Cynthia's coat pocket. The blonde moves away before pulling out the package and handing it to Angel.

"Before I forget."

Cynthia will never forget the smile and hug she received after she helped Angel put on the new hand chain.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for over 150 views! Suggestions for filler chapters are welcome.**

 **(Because I've haven't done this yet) Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I only own Angel and the plot.**

Angel fiddles with one of the three finger clasps on the new hand chain. Her keystone shines in the indent created by the thin metal wings. Of course the champion would be able to pull a matching keystone holder out of nowhere. Calamity barks at her trainer's infatuation with the object and nudges the part that wraps around her wrist.

"Sorry, Calamity. I just love it so much."

The absol rubs her head into Angel's side. The red beast turns a head as she senses the incoming figure.

"What's up Calamity?" Angel asks and squints her eyes in the direction the pocket monster was pointing at. A smile lit her face as both trainer and pokemon burst forward to tackle the champion in a hug. Garchomp places her arms behind her trainer to prevent a tumble.

"Woah there! What's with the excitement?" Cynthia asks as they all strengthen.

"Well since the Cup is over I was wondering if you wanted to go to Anistar with me and Calamity. The Anistar Sundial is considered one of Kalo's wonders and Dendemille Town has some awesome windmills."

Calamity barks excitedly and disaster pokemon and trainer smile at each other before looking at their blonde idol expectantly. Angel's smile droops when Garchomp looks at Cynthia and lowers her head.

"What?"

Cynthia bends down to her level, "We were only here for the Cup. Garchomp and I have to get back to Sinnoh. We still have league responsibilities to attend to."

Guilt gnaws at her heart when both younger creatures visibly wilt with disappointment. Angel downcast her eyes and the red absol lowers her head. She goes to place a comforting hand on her head and draws back like she was stung when Angel steps back.

"Right. Champion of another region, one of the most powerful trainers in the world, archeologist, right. Busy. Uh, forget I asked. Come on Calamity. We can go by ourselves. You still want to go right? Or would you prefer the mountains near Ambrette where we can visit the aquarium."

Calamity turns at her suggestion and starts barking madly.

"I know I said I wanted to go to Anistar, but the aquarium sounds fun too, right." She drops the cheery tone at Calamity's look, "Let's go there then make our way back to Lumiose to see the professor."

Cynthia interrupts, "Just because we're not able to go doesn't mean you shouldn't!"

"Don't worry about it. I wanted to go because the sundial apparently radiates the same aura mega stones do when it glows at certain times in a day. Calamity enjoys it so I thought maybe Garchomp and you would like it too. Since you can't go, no need to cross through that blizzard called route 17. Let's go Calamity."

Angel turns to leaves but looks behind her when her partner doesn't follow, "Calamity." A silent communication passes through their eyes before Angel turns away again, "I'll be at the center when you finished your good byes. It was an honor to meet you Cynthia, Garchomp."

When the girl leaves Calamity bows to Cynthia and starts up a conversation with Garchomp. The champion wished she could understand what was happening when Calamity raises her voice and barks madly and Garchomp wilts. The red pokemon turns tail and runs after her trainer. Garchomp taps her mega stone and Cynthia in reply runs a hand over her new keystone.

"You feel rotten too, right?"

The sad roar is her answer. Cynthia tightens her hand into a fist before pulling out her cell phone.

"Flint? No, nothing's wrong. I might be a few days late. Oh and have someone prepare an extra room next to mine. I'm bringing a friend home and I'm sure you all will love her."

…

Angel throws the can of pokemon food into her satchel before standing up from the couch in the Pokemon Center. Calamity kept throwing glances at the door and Angel was beginning to wonder why. She brought the absol's attention back to her with a hand through her scruff.

"Let's get going Calamity. I want to get to the Skiddo Ranch before night fall. They'll let us spend the night."

Calamity grabbed at her shirt and pulled when Angel attempted to leave. The stronger pokemon dug her paws into the ground and drags her trainer back to the entrance.

"What are you doing? I didn't leave anything."

Angel furrows her brows when Calamity lets out a slur of growls and muffled barks.

"I can't understand you when you're communicating like that. Slow down and clear your head! All I'm getting from you is you're expecting something."

"I think this is my doing. Calamity let her go please."

The jaws of the absol unclench as the blonde champion leans down to Angel's eye level.

"What are you still doing her," The platinum responds in a mellow hiss.

"We couldn't leave on those term now could we?"

"People leave all the time. I would've gotten over it eventually. It's not like I'm not use to it," Angel mumbles the last part.

Cynthia looks at her strangely, "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing. You should leave before you miss your flight."

"Well there's a slight problem."

Angel stares at her with a blank face, "Please don't tell me you missed your flight to make some pointless good bye. You should get going."

Calamity watches her trainer start to turn to leave and starts roaring and barking loudly. A shocked look crosses Angel's face and she pivots towards her pokemon.

"Excuse me!"

Cynthia watches awkwardly once the two start yelling at each other. She never realized how confusing it was to only hear one side of an argument. She throws her arms out and pulls the girl into a backwards hug when Angel starts to pounce on her pokemon. The child turns and glares at the smiling face.

"Actually I haven't left yet because I have an offer for you to consider," Cynthia waits for a snarky retort, but continues when she hears none. "I want you to come back to Sinnoh with me."

"You want me to come with you?" Angel confirms skeptically as she twists in Cynthia's arms.

"Yup. I've got to admit that me and my pokemon have a soft spot for you. We don't really want to say goodbye just yet. I already made the arrangements so now we just have to go." Cynthia chirps then looks at Angel when she receives a sheepish smile, "What?"

"I'm still a minor. You'll have to ask my 'guardian' about it." Angel air quotes guardian.

"Oh? Who is it?"

"Professor Sycamore. He signed my foster papers so I could go on my journey. He's in my hometown, Lumiose."

Cynthia smiles, "Lumiose it is then."


	6. Chapter 6

"We're here!"

Angel scrambles out of Cynthia's arms once they reach the Lumiose City gate. She catches her fall with her hands before springing up from her crouch and running up the street. Cynthia gasps and runs after her when the girl barely misses being skimmed by a passing car.

"Angel! Stop! You're going to get hit! Angel! Garchomp stop her!" The ball is hurled into the air and releases a white glare.

The purple beast burst from its pokeball and soars ahead of Cynthia. It reaches down and grabs the child from its position in the air. It makes a u turning flip back to Cynthia and places the squirming person into the adult's arms gently.

"Hey!"

"You can't just run off. You almost got hit by a car!" Cynthia screeches as she tightens her grips. She places her on the ground (mostly because her ribs were starting to bruise from the excessive kicking), but keeps a firm grip on her hand while she returns her pokemon to its ball. She tries to ignore the yanking that tries to dislodge her shoulder and arm.

"I've lived in Lumiose for a long time. I know how to avoid a car Cynthia, stop worrying." The child whines before pulling at the champion's arm. She pouts when the professional doesn't even move.

The adult smiles patiently for the girl's excitement to deflame before she leisurely starts leading them toward the large building that could only be the Pokemon Lab. The excitement only swells inside the little girl once more and she starts hopping while she walks to vent the increasing energy. She notices a young couple smile at them as they pass by one of the patches of trees.

"Professor Sycamooorree!" Angel screeches as she pries her hand away from Cynthia's iron grip. The young girl stops at the gates as the professor and his assistant step out of the building. Angel stops to bow her head at the professor.

"Ah. How are you doing? I just got word from Sophie this morning that you entered the Junior Cup. So Angel's your name?"

"Eh… That's the one Cynthia put down for the tournament. She basically forced me to enter." Angel pouted.

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy the Cup, Angel." Cynthia chided as she approaches the group.

"Champion Cynthia!" Sophie gasps as she quickly bows before the trainer. Cynthia raises a hand in greeting.

"Well, I think Angel suites you. Your other pokemon are waiting in the sanctuary. Why don't you go get them?" Sycamore suggests as he motions inside the building.

"You have more pokemon?" Cynthia asks.

"Yup. I actually found the two of them half a year ago in the Winding Woods. They were abandoned by their previous trainers so I asked if they wanted to come with me! I asked if they wanted to come with us to Pledging Day, but they said it was a thing between Calamity and I. I brought them all something though!"

Slate eyes look at her in confusion, "When did you manage that?"

"Yesterday."

Sycamore laughs at the face Cynthia gives his young charge. He pushes her towards the sanctuary doors before turning to Cynthia, "Thank you for taking care of her and bringing her back to the lab."

"No problem. Actually I wanted to talk to you about her."

"Oh? What about?" He questions as he leads Cynthia inside to sit down. Sophie places two cups of tea before them before excusing herself to get back to work.

"I have asked Angel to come back to Sinnoh with me. She says that she needs your permission, since you're her guardian." The champion explains as she sips at her tea.

The professor smiles in understanding, "I see. I can get the documentation for you to complete shortly. This would mean that you would become her new foster parent. Do you realize this fact?" He asks as his smile is replaced with a more sober expression. "You haven't even asked yet, about her history I mean. And I would be surprised if she had said anything. I've been fostering her since she was five, but she went off two days after the paperwork was signed to go on her journey."

Cynthia looks at her cup and runs a thumb along the rounded rim. She looks at the direction she saw Angel run off to. "I admit I subconsciously knew she was probably an orphan. Not many parents want their six year old going on a journey. My grandmother just about broke into tears because her baby was growing up when I left at ten… Could you tell what you do know about Angel."

Sycamore puts his empty cup down and crosses his legs, "I can tell you what I know. Angel, when she entered the program at age two and a half, refused to speak to anyone. Eventually people stopped trying to speak to her. The other children wouldn't play with her and adopters couldn't connect with her. She started talking to me once she got Calamity because she wanted advice on how to take care of her and agreed to let me house Calamity when the orphanage found out about her absol. When she turned five, the people who run the orphanage started to think she was unadoptable. I may have gotten her to speak regularly, but she wouldn't let anyone bond with her. I became her guardian so she could live here free of the system until she decided to become a trainer. I didn't really expect her to leave so early."

"Does she really not have a name?" Cynthia asks as she takes a candy out of the bowl resting in the middle of the table and untwists its ends.

"She probably did once upon a time. Nothing is known about her parents or if she even had both with her at the time. Only photos of her and the father were found. When police found her she was alone in her apartment after a neighbor had said they didn't see either parent nor child for days. The police has declared that they're most likely dead. If she had a name she never told me."

Conversation leaves the room so the only sound filling the void is the crinkle of Cynthia's candy wrapper as she fiddles with it. She pops the sugary ball into her mouth and waits for Sycamore to divulge the thought still banging against his skull.

"Angel is… very untrustful. The walls have been built high since her abandonment and self inclined isolation. I never seen her so willing to be with someone. I ask that you take caution in your actions when they concern her."

Cynthia smiles around her candy, "I'm pretty sure my Garchomp would hit me over the head with a Brick Break if I so much as made her downcast her eyes. She's a little angel"

A sigh of relief escapes the professor's mouth as he stands and motions towards the glass doors. One could barely make out the child's moving silhouette behind the foggy barrier. The champion rises and waits for the doors to open before she steps into the grassy wildlife enclosure. Her slate eyes land on the hoard of pokemon surrounding the young trainer.

"Guys, get off!"

Calamity opens an eye before sending a haze of ice at the mob forming a pile on their friend. The professor's pokemon disperse, but two pokemon jump away from the spray before releasing angry cries at the pokemon.

"Now, now, don't fight." She sees Cynthia standing at the entrance, "Alright boys line up and meet Cynthia. She's taking us to Sinnoh!"

The pokemon form a line before their trainer and sit on or hover above the ground. Angel smiles and looks over her shoulder at the champion, "These are my friends! Mystic is the hydreigon and Diadem is the arcanine. They're quite the handful because they're boys and love to fight." She turns toward her pokemon, "You should've come with us boys. Calamity won the Junior Cup by herself."

The two pokemon roar in surprise and growl at the red pokemon. Calamity rises and begins gathering energy into her mouth that starts to crystallize into ice. The two larger pokemon back off. Angel laughs to herself before pulling two pokeballs off her belt. One a regular pokeball and the other a dusk ball.

"Alright you two, we know who the boss is. Back in your balls before Calamity pummels you both into the ground," Her joking tone becomes more serious, "Mystic, Diadem return."

Red beams enclose the two scowling pokemon as they dissipate into their capsules. They are reattached to her trainer belt and Angel runs up to Cynthia. The blonde rubs the platinum locks affectionately. Two smaller arms wrap around the champion's waist and a blinding smile is thrown her way. Cynthia reaches down and coils her arms around the child's torso to heave her up onto her hip. Angel buries her face into her neck.

"I surprised Calamity allows you to do that. I picked her up once because she sprained her ankle and had an angry absol snapping at my heels all the way back to the lab." Cynthia turns to see Sycamore enter the room with a stack of papers in hand, "I had the paperwork faxed to my office. I need a few signatures."

"I'm going to the playground on Route 14." Angel declares as she shimmies down from her perch in the champion's arms. Her dusk ball flashes in the sunlight before it spirals into the air.

"Mystic, curtain call!"

The brutal pokemon bursts open from its capsule and roars with all three heads and hovers next to his trainer. The little girl crawls onto its back and clasps her arms around its main neck and tightens her legs around its shoulders.

"I'll be back later okay?"

The dragon and his mistress zoom out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hope you all saw the notice about ch 2. If not I posted the real one a few days ago. Thanks for almost 350 views!**

Cynthia hands the packet of papers to the Child Welfare representative that Sycamore had called over to collect the documentation. The gentleman stuffs the papers into his briefcase before he bows slightly to both the champion and the professor. He waves goodbye as he leaves.

"That took awhile," Cynthia sighs as she stands from the couch to stretch out her stiffened joints.

The professor copied her movements and a crack was heard as his vertebrae popped back into place. "Always does," He looks at his watch before looking back at the blonde. "It's been a few hours. Maybe we should go find her; she probably lost track of time. We'll take a cab."

The champion nods and follows the professor out of the lab's front entrance. A cab pulls to a stop in front of them when Sycamore flings a hand up and both slide into the backseat. Cynthia leans back into the fabric covered cushion as the professor leans between the seats to tell the driver their destination. The driver gave a short okay as a reply before the vehicle starts moving beneath her. She stares in quiet fascination at the metropolis before her. Her gaze trails the skyscrapers and her mouth slightly drops when she sees Prism Tower looming over the extension of her vision. Her mind snaps back to reality when the car comes to a stop. Professor Sycamore laughs quietly at her confused expression.

"That happened to Angel the first time I took her out of the city. Lumiose is a normal thing for her, but the moment she saw Anistar she packed a bag and went out on an adventure."

"Anistar?" Cynthia asks.

Sycamore nods, "I took her to Anistar for a research project I was planning. I came back to the hotel and she said she was going on her adventure. She came back to Lumiose around three times on her first loop around Kalos."

They laugh and crawl out of the car. Cynthia listens intently as he describes each visit. One story includes the girl coming back with her hair housing a scatterbug that refused to leave and another involving her so covered in dust from a sneak attack from a dugtrio that her hair turned brown.

"She really has five gym badges?"

"Um hum. She's missing our city's badge, the Voltage Badge, due to Clemont being so uptight over rules; the Anistar's Psychic Badge because she didn't have two pokemon when she first started, and Snowbelle City's Iceberg Badge because Wulfric thinks she needs to grow up more."

The playground comes into view and both adult's straighten when they see an empty lot. A roar alerts their attention and both turn their gazes skyward. Mystic hovers above them. One mouth points at the forest and the others caw at them before flying off. Cynthia doesn't hesitate and rushes after the disappearing figure.

The champion throws branches away from her face as she approaches the hydreigon. Angel's arcanine barks a greeting at her that prompts his trainer to turn around. Violet eyes flood with relief.

"Help me Cynthia. It needs help."

Whatever lecture was crawling along the champion's lips clears for curiosity. She walks closer and kneels down beside the child to get a look at the object of Angel's attention. The blonde tilts her head at the purple ball of what appears to be goo.

"What is that thing?"

Angel looks at her sternly, "It's a pokemon. It's goomy the dragon type. I think it needs water, do you have any?"

Cynthia shakes her head no and watches the child pick up the pokemon. The desperate creature droops and slides along her arms. The champion can't help but grimace slightly.

"I'll just have to take him to the Pokemon Center," She looks down at the pokemon. "Don't worry Goomy. I'll make sure you feel better. Mystic get us to the center!"

The hydreigon lowers so his trainer can scramble onto his back with the melting slime ball. He waits for his fellow pokemon to be returned to their capsules in crimson rays. Cynthia's hair swirls around her body as the air around her stirs in Mystic's wake. She watches in a blank stupor before she is snapped back to reality when she feels Garchomp's pokeball shake. Her hand grabs at one and throws it into the air.

"Togekiss, air ready."

The white avian flaps its wings to stretch her muscles. She straightens as the added weight troubles her body. It bounces as it lifts its body off the ground to zoom past the trees and after the quickly shrinking black dragon. Below Sycamore lets out an exasperated breath before turning around back towards the city.

…

The young trainer is given the much more lively slime ball. A smile lights up Angel's face as the goomy lets out a happy cry. Her palm runs over its gooey head and ignores the slimy feeling tickling her sensors.

"You were pretty dehydrated Goomy. You should be more careful," She pets the creature's head in a soothing manner when it droops. "Now don't be like that. It's okay. You're alright."

The familiar, iridescent pulse radiates from her hands. Cynthia feels Lucario's pokeball quiver from the inside of her jacket. The champion unlatches the capsule from its clip and releases the aura pokemon. The blue pokemon catches its fall with a front paw and pushes onto its hind legs. Lucario approaches the girl and watches her interaction with the goomy. It grunts at her.

"My aura? Uh, I don't know what you're asking sir." She looks down at her hands as the light around her palm dies down. "That pulse has been with me forever."

The blue pokemon remains silent.

"So what did Nurse Joy say about Goomy?" Cynthia asks to lessen the awkward silence.

Angel immediately smiles again, "He's fine. Goomy is a species that need to keep their fluid level high to remain healthy. He dried out too much. Your better now right? Even better, Goomy decided to come with me. I just need a name now. Any ideas Cynthia?"

The ball of goo straightens as it cries out a response and both look at the champion.

"Uh? I don't know?"

The child's cheeks puff out in annoyance, "You're no help." She turns toward Lucario when he grumbles something at her.

"Destin? What do you think?"

The pokemon nuzzles into her stomach and she giggles at the funny feeling, "Okay! Destin it is! Thanks Lucario." The girl pulls a spare pokeball off her trainer belt and holds it in front of the pokemon. "Ready to go Destin?" The goomy jumps and headbutts the capsule. It gives two slow shakes before resting. "We have many adventures in our future Destin, and we'll show everyone just how strong a goomy can become."

…

Angel looks nervously at the large plane in front of her. Wide violet eyes fixate on the beast of a machine as she tugs at her shirt. Sycamore turns an anxious glance at the child's new caretaker, "She seems very uneasy. She's never been on a plane before. Take caution. Angel panics easily in new situations."

"I'm sure she'll be fine Professor. I'll keep an eye on her, and her pokemon will be able to come out of their pokeballs after take off." Cynthia reassures. "Thank you for your hospitality. We'll be back to visit."

The champion waves goodbye before walking up to the child. She grabs her hand and walks Angel up the steps of the airplane. The platinum waves her farewell at the professor one last time before following Cynthia through the door. She gapes at the interior of the private jet.

The champion laughs at her expression and settles her into one of the plushy seats. Her hands nimbly buckle her new charge's seatbelt. Cynthia gives her hand a squeeze when Angel worries her lip and shifts uncomfortably in her seat.

"Nothing will happen. Relax."

Cynthia instinctively looks up when her pilot's voice beeps over the loudspeaker.

"Please take your seats and buckle up. The plane will be taking off shortly."

The champion took the seat across from the fidgeting Angel and fastens the seatbelt in its lock. She fingers through a magazine as she feels the jet plane purr beneath her and registered the acceleration of the object by the blurring scenery she caught at the corner of her eye. The magazine tumbles out of her hand when the plane suddenly jerks to the side. She looks up when she hears a squeak.

Cynthia's gray eyes pause on Angel's shaking frame as the child stares at the window with dazed, dull eyes. The champion looks out the clear glass to the incoming dark clouds of an approaching storm. On que, the pilot's voice sounded over the PA.

"I'm sorry ma'am. We are experiencing some turbulence and will hit some more as we avoid that storm. It's advised that you remain seated and keep your pokemon in their balls."

Cynthia looks back towards Angel and undoes her buckle to squat in front of the cowering child, "Hey? Are you alright?"

Angel curls further into herself when thunder roars outside and the plane shakes due to a shift in the air currents.

"Angel? Sweetie? What's wrong?"

"Thunder," The little girl murmurs as she turns away from the champion, embarrassed that the champion was around to witness her panic attack.

"Oh Sweetie. It's okay. I promise nothing's going to happen." Cynthia reaches out and tries to unravel her from her fetal position.

Thunder shakes the earth as a three year old clings to a man. The adult runs a warm cloth over the pokemon's scratched neck and glances at the foreboding sky above him. Violet eyes curiously watch as the disaster pokemon stirs back into concioussness. It barks at them as it stands. The absol shakes its black horn at the duo and forces them back.

"Daddy, it's telling us to run."

"What do you mean little one?"

A crack sounds and one of the trees surrounding them crackles as it sparks. The younger Angel is pushed away as the log collapses and plummets onto the man. He looks at the disaster pokemon as a fire erupts from the smoking timber.

"Take her out of her Absol. Please."

The white and black pokemon gives a subtle nod. It jostles the child onto its back before taking off, away from the accumulating blaze. Angel tightens her grip on the white scruff and squeezes her eyes shut. When she opens them she's at the gate to Lumiose City and the absol is lowering her onto the ground as she slides down its head. She grabs its horn.

"Help my daddy Mr. Absol. Please. I'll wait in my house for him."

Her face is nuzzled before the white guardian disappears into the reddening forest.

Angel feels water drizzle from her eyes as Cynthia finally unclenches her arms and she clutches her shirt before placing her crying face into the champion's shirt. Her body is lifted from the seat and tugged into the awaiting arms that wrap around her. She feels Cynthia replace her position in her seat and the soothing rocking motion that follows.

"It's okay Angel. Nothing will hurt you. I'm here."

"It scares me Mama." The girl murmurs into Cynthia's chest as she shakes.

"I know Angel. I know it does. Just focus on me, okay Sweetheart?"

Angel nods and tries to match the older blonde's breathing. As her shoulders slowly decrease in their rapid movements, the violet eyes begin to close as mental exhaustion begin to set in. She places her head into the crook of Cynthia's neck and listens as the woman slowly hums a tune that streams into her eardrums. The champion notices her drowsy expression and places a kiss onto her head.

"Go to sleep Love."

"M'kay Mama," The sleep delirious girl whispers.

A loving hand runs along her hair as Cynthia sighs in relief. She replays the moment in her head. The palm running along the girl's head freezes when the champion stiffens in awareness.

"She just called me mama."


	8. Chapter 8

Angel's violet eyes ease open and gets a faceful of Cynthia's pale hair. She spits out the strands that invade her mouth when she stupidly yawns. The coughing fit awakens the adult who tightens her arms around her snuggle buddy.

"My ribs," The child whines as she jabs an elbow into the older female.

Cynthia curls and wiggles her fingers into the child's side in retaliation. The response is immediate as the child squirms to be released from her cage.

"Mama! Stop…" Angel's eyes widen as she frees herself from the limbs and stands away from the champion with dazed eyes when she realizes her wording. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

Cynthia stands and kneels beside the trembling girl. "I don't mind you know." She moves her head to stay at pace with the girl turning away from her. "I really don't. I'm honored if you consider me your mother." The champion sighs when the child remains quiet. She returns to her seat and picks up her discarded magazine and opens it to a random page. "You can bring your pokemon out now if you want. Turbulence is over."

Gray eyes look over the edge of the paper and at the small hand tugging at her sleeve. Violet, somewhat watery, eyes stare up at her. Wide and soulful. An amused sigh escapes her throat and her arms open to let the child onto her lap.

"You really don't mind?"

"I would tell you if I did," Cynthia answers as she skims the article over the child's shoulder.

"Thank you."

"No mama?" Cynthia teases as she bounces her lap to force out a giggle.

"Thank you, Mama."

…

Angel holds Cynthia's hand in a death grip as she slowly makes her way down the airplane's stairwell. Cynthia's darker hair (in comparison to Angel at least) swirls around her body as she takes the stairs more swiftly than her new foster child would've enjoyed. Angel fumbles over her own feet.

"Sorry Love. Do you want me to carry you?"

The child shakes her head no and pulls one of her pokeballs off her belt once their feet touch the grass. Diadem roars as he is released from his ball. The tired child scrambles onto the canine pokemon's back. The walk continues.

Angel observes the Sinnoh League's large, castle like building. Her eyes follow the pointy columns and stares at the glowing pokeball symbol. The violet eyes widen even further when she notices the crashing waterfall.

"A waterfall?"

Cynthia chuckles at the bewildered girl, "This is the Sinnoh League Headquarters. Myself and the Elite Four live here primarily. Although, most of us have other homes. We hold the actual tournament at another island called Lily of the Valley."

The champion opens the door to the mansion and motions the arcanine forward. The beast tromps inside and lowers his front to allow his owner to dismount. The young girl looks around in wonder. Cynthia grabs her hand.

"This way Love."

Cynthia leads the child to a pair of large, wooden double doors. She notices the red beam that returns Diadem to his ball when her hands meet the levers. There is a sharp tick as the lock slides out of place and the door hinges creak as the wooden planks open. The doors open to reveal the Sinnoh Elite Four members. Flint and Aaron were playing an intense game of table tennis. Bertha and Lucian both read books on a couch. Lucian looks up when he hears the door squeak.

"Ah, welcome back Cynthia." He pushes his glasses further up onto his nose. "We should really get that door hinge fixed. Is this the friend Flint was talking about? He made it seem like she was around your age."

"Yo! Don't make it sound like that Lucian!"

"Flint said, and I quote, 'Cynthia's bringing a girl home! Thought that Stone fella would've chased her down first." Aaron snickers from his position behind the table.

"Yo. I didn't say that! Stop fueling my fire!" The redhead moves toward Aaron with clenched fists.

"Enough you two, You're making the child feel awkward." Bertha reprimands as she closes her book.

Five sets of eyes zoom in on Angel and the girl further hides herself behind Cynthia's legs. Her hair obscures whatever facial features weren't hidden behind the champion's legs. Flint is suddenly in front of the girl.

"Hey little lady! Aren't you a cutie?" He reaches out to spin her around, totally oblivious to the look of terror on Angel's face and Cynthia's paleing expression as he lifts the small girl and swings her by the arms.

A white glare erupts and the red absol growls at the man when her master isn't released. Flint stares at the pokemon blankly. A ball of water is released at the fire master's afro. The girl is dropped in favor of moving his mopey hair away from his face. Aaron bursts out laughing and Bertha suppress her laugh with her hand. Even Lucian and Cynthia let out amused smiles. The champion catches the girl propelling at her in her arms. Calamity turns and lays at the pokemon master's feet.

"What the flames was that?!"

"I believe it was Calamity's Water Pulse. I didn't get to warn you, Angel isn't a touchy person and Calamity, her special partner, is very protective. Although, you're lucky none of her other pokemon decided to pop out. Or Garchomp for that matter."

A slight sweat appears on the Elite Four member's forehead as he imagined an angry Garchomp chasing him through the halls. Aaron struts pass the petrified trainer and smiles at the child who had turned in Cynthia's arms to watch his approach.

"Hey, kid! I'm Aaron. I specialize in the bug type."

"Angel. For some reason I have more dragon and dark types than any other."

"Angel, huh? Nice name." Aaron compliments, hoping to get on the kids good side.

"Cynthia gave it to me."

"Huh?" Flint blurts and grins sheepishly when the child buries her face in Cynthia's neck.

"Angel will be staying with me from now on. I'm her foster parent for the time being."

Lucian raises purple eyebrows in rare surprise as he fiddles with his glasses. Angel subtly looks up at Cynthia at the sentence. Her grip loosens slightly.

"Well that's lovely. Angel, dear, why don't you show us the rest of your pokemon."

"My pokemon?" Violet eyes shimmer when Bertha nods, "Okay." She reaches for the ground with her legs and Cynthia edges the child onto the ground. Three pokeballs are briefly shown.

"Mystic, Diadem, Destin, curtain call!"

"Yo! You have a fire type. Arcanine, nice!" Flint approaches the regal pokemon and rotates around the creature to analyze its power. "This pokemon looks powerful!" Diadem releases a boastful roar, "Sounds powerful too!"

"Is this pokemon a bug type? I'm not sure?" Aaron asks as he examines Destin.

"Uh, no... Destin is a goomy. A dragon type native to Kalos' swampy areas." Angel explains as her slimey friend makes its way onto her head.

"A hydreigon. Very impressive. This pokemon is part dark type correct?" Lucian asks.

"Yes sir." Angel mutters as she rubs one Mystic's smaller heads.

Angel jumps when Bertha's voice is suddenly behind her, "No need to be so stiff." The old lady sighs when she scampers behind her arcanine. Bertha goes to stand next to Cynthia.

"She a jumpy little thing isn't she?" The trainer asks her superior.

"Unfortunately."

"This is a big responsibility Cynthia. Are you sure you're up for it? Fostering a child is hard work. Especially a broken one." Bertha whispers and glances at the girl petting her pokemon, making sure Angel didn't hear.

"Cynthia," Both women turn turn in Angel's direction as she points out the door. "I'm getting Destin some water."

"Okay Angel."

The two watch as she recalls her pokemon into their capsules. When the doors groan shut she answers Bertha's question, however her gaze never leaves the doors, "I didn't really think the whole fostering thing out. I know she's… rough around the edges. Broken in a way, but she just needs a little TLC. You'll see. However, some advice?"

"Certainly. Whatever I can do to help you, Dear."

…

Angel dumps the water over the wilting pokemon's head and rubs its head affectionately when it climbs up her lap. Calamity roars softly at her master's sullen face.

"How long do you think this will last? A few weeks, a few months, I doubt a year."

The absol lets out a harsh bark and pushes her face into her trainers.

"Oh yeah? What makes her any different? You know how it works. People say they'll stay and then one day they leave. How many potential adopters said they'd stay?" Angel scoff at the responding bark, "You have a feeling? No offense Calamity but, with your species reputation, I should take that as a bad omen and get out of here now." Her hand still on her goomy's head. Destin looks up and nuzzles her face when tears start leaking from the violet orbs.

The absol stares at the crying child before she turns and leaves. The red body squeezes through the slight opening in the front door and her paws click against the tile floor as she makes her way back to the lounge room. Her paws push the levers down and she headbutts the doors open. Eyes turn toward the entrance as the planks force themselves outward.

"Hey, it's Angel's absol." Aaron states then mutters out a curse as Flint scores a point due to his distraction. The bug type master tightens his hold on his paddle and slams the ball into the table.

"Yeah… Something wrong Calamity?" Cynthia asks as she places her drink onto the table besides the armchair she was sitting on. Her brows furrow when the absol moves forward and tugs on her sleeve. She follows the pokemon's backwards movements out the door.

"Uh? Champ, you want some help?" Flint asks, ignoring Aaron's demand to play the ball.

"I'm fine. I'll be back. Something might be wrong."

Cynthia quickens her pace when Calamity releases her sleeve and begins to bound down the hallway. She pauses when the absol stops at the building's front door.

"What's wrong Calamity?" The absol motions toward the door with her scythe. The champion looks at the slightly opened doors in confusion before pushing her body through the opening.

"Angel? Angel!" The blonde rushes up and wraps her arms around the crying child. She tries to push Angel's hair away from her face, but the little girl pushes her way out of her arms and tumbles into the water. Cynthia reaches out to pull her out of the water and recoils when Angel takes a few steps back.

"Angel, what are you doing?" The champion asks as she wades into the water. "Stop taking steps! You're going to fall!"

"Leave me alone!" Angel shouts as she ignores the command and takes another stride behind her.

"Why are you doing this? I thought we broke that wall of yours."

"Go away Cynthia! Just leave. I don't need you to put me back together." Angel halves the distance of her steps when she feels her legs begin to yield to the rushing water tumbling toward the edge.

"I see. You heard the conversation between me and Bertha. I wished you had heard the rest. I don't regret taking you with me if that's what you are thinking." She reaches out and jumps when Calamity suddenly roars and starts rushing through the water toward her trainer. Cynthia's gray eyes widen when she notices Angel's legs heave to the current pushing against them.

The pale blonde yelps in surprise as her body falls out from beneath her and reaches out into the air in an attempt to keep herself from being carried away by the current. The little girl opens her shut eyes when she feels two hands wrap around her arm. Violet orbs widen when she sees the champion soaked in water to mid back. Cynthia gives her a small smile.

"I got you Love. Hang on, okay?"

Angel lets out a strangled yell when Cynthia slightly slips as she edges backwards. Calamity gives a high pitched whine between her clenched teeth as she tightened her jaw on the train of Cynthia's coat. Angel refuses to look as she feels her body slowly edges over the curve. She peels one open when she feels the ground, or rather the water, beneath her. Angel doesn't hesitate to jump into her saviour's arms; her vendetta momentarily forgotten.

"It's okay. We have a long way to go, but this is a pretty good start. Don't worry Love." Cynthia sighs slightly when Angel remembers why she tumbled over a cliff and leans away from her. "Come on. I just kept you from falling off a waterfall. Can't we just go back to how we felt on the plane?"

Angel downcasts her eyes so her hair covers her expression. She leans back onto Cynthia's chest, "Okay, Mama. We can do that. I'm just gonna…" Angel cuts herself off with a yawn and closes her eyes.

Cynthia and Calamity both shake their heads and share a laugh before the champion slightly shifts the girl to put a finger to her lips. The two immediately hush up. The blonde easily picks the child up in a princess carry and winces in discomfort at the soggy feeling of her waterlogged clothes. Gray eyes glance down at the red absol walking beside her, "Better get changed."


	9. Chapter 9

Cynthia ignores the crowd surrounding the Amity Square ruins and instead runs a hand over the the uplifted engraving. She looks over her shoulder when she heard quick footsteps approaching from behind.

"Here Mama." Angel whispers as she pushes a triple scooped cone toward her parent figure; violet eyes glance at the crowd beginning to murmur behind her. She nervously licks her ice cream and scoots her body closer to her when negative words begin to drift through her ears. Her first outing away from the Pokemon League since she arrived a few weeks ago. She had just gotten use to living with four other people and the mansion itself, now she's dragged out halfway across country to sedate Cynthia's sweet tooth for ice cream and anything that seemed older than a millennia.

"Thank you Angel," She gives her foster child a pat on her head and looks down when the girl buries her face away from view. Gray eyes notice the whispers.

"Look here Angel." She points at the ancient unown writing.

The violet eyes glance the text and her lips move as she processes the letters. "When every l-life meeks another life, something kill ceborn. Uh? I think I read it wrong."

Cynthia's shock is pushed aside by laughter, "You got most of it, Sweetie. It says, when every life meets another life, something will be born. How can you read this?"

Angel looks up and smiles, "I met a group of unown and they thought it was funny to write out their thoughts."

"Only you Love. Don't let your ice cream drip."

Angel goes to catch the dribble and digs through her pocket to reveal a handful of coins, "Here's your change Cynthia."

The champion pockets the coins and raises an eyebrow at the use of her name and looks to the area the scattered violet orbs keep spinning towards. She gives her ice cream a thoughtful lick before she smiles at her thought.

"Angel, let's have a battle." Cynthia declares loudly and notices the immediate uproar from the crowd.

"What?" Angel exclaims as she turns to the champion and tries to shrink away from the challenge.

"The champion's going to battle her?" Someone murmurs and Angel grasps her wriggling pokeball.

"A battle. Come on it'll be fun. Call your pokemon."

"Calamity, curtain call!" The luxury ball is spun outward and Calamity springs forth. Angel tilts her head in confusion when Cynthia releases her gastrodon. The pink and brown slug extends its neck to tower over the crouching red pokemon. Calamity lets out an intimidating growl.

"Who does this kid think she is?"

"Gastrodon, Muddy Water."

Brown liquid swirls around the sea slug in a vortex and rushes outward when Gastrodon flexes its neck towards Calamity.

"Calamity Stone Edge, around you!"

The blue stones form a fortress around the pokemon that barricades from the waves. The water bounces away before dissipating into a foggy mist. Gastrodon gives out a startled cry when it's thrown backwards by the stones obscured by the fog. People gasp as the slug is propelled backwards and forces its sticky body into the ground to prevent further skidding.

"Then we'll use stone edge too!"

Gastrodon summons the stone from the earth and circles the breaking pieces arounds its body before shooting them outwards at the absol.

"Send it back Calamity. Night Slash!"

The creature's scythe glows purple and rebounds the stones like a bat before it flips away from the incoming shards. Gastrodon tilts its head up and shifts to avoid the approaching rock before quickly squishing its front to its back when a Mega Horn hammers into the now empty space. The slug slams the pokemon into the ground when ordered to Body Slam. Calamity moans in pain.

"Calamity!" Angel tightens her fist when she hears a snicker, "Shadow Ball."

The ball of plasma is released into Gastrodon's face, which causes the pokemon to recoil enough for Calamity to crawl away from its sticky hold.

"Go Calamity, Future Sight!" The absol's ethereal eyes shine with a blue haze before returning to normal. When nothing happens, Cynthia calls out a command.

"Water Pulse."

Calamity jumps to dodge the incoming water balls. The red pokemon bounds off a tree and collides with one of the incoming Water Pulses. The pokemon grunts as it skids into a pillar.

"Eh! Are you okay?" The absol jumps to its feet. "Good. Hyper Beam!"

A beam of light forces the slug back and blinds the on lookers. Cynthia holds an arm to her face as the wind created by the explosion blows in her face before lowering it and smiling when her gastrodon slunks up.

"You left a mark, but now you're defenseless. A dangerous thing for a sweeping pokemon like Calamity that, in comparison, has rather low defenses."

Her gray eyes widen when Angel gives a knowing smirk, "I think you're forgetting about something." Two swirling portals appear beside the pink slug and it pivots its head between them in panic. Balls of crystallized power assult the trapped pokemon. From the smoke a final ball of water plummets into Calamity.

As the smoke clears both pokemon remain standing. Calamity stumbles over her paws and Gastrodon droops its head from fatigue before both collapse on the ground.

"It's a draw!" A girl shrieks in disbelief.

Cynthia returns her pokemon to its ball before speaking reassuring words of comfort to the sphere, "Good job Gastrodon. Great job. Well done Angel."

"I need to work on counter shields." A red beam erupts from the luxury ball and envelopes the fainted pokemon. "That was wonderful Calamity. I'll do better next time, promise." The ball is returned to her belt. The girl grimaces when she notices the melted ice cream covering her hand, "Aw man."

Cynthia laughs. Apparently Angle wasn't as good at eating ice cream and battling at the same time. "Oh my."

Angel blushes redder when she notices the crowd still hadn't dispersed. She yelps quietly when Cynthia picks her up.

"Let's get you cleaned up."

Angel pushes away Cynthia's hand as the champion attempts to wipe the sticky residue from her face. The pokemon center's bathroom white tile reflect the action.

"Quit it Mama!"

"I'm trying to clean your face Love." The pseudo-mother states as she pushes the wet paper towel closer to the child's face.

"I can do it myself." Angel complains as she pushes the prodding hand away and pouted in annoyance.

"Stop the lilipup eyes. I let you try to wipe your face and if anything you made it worse by spreading the ice cream on your hand into your eyebrows. Just let me do it and then we can go grab Calamity."

The bribe works as the girl stills and lets the blonde wipe the wet cloth over her face. She smiles at the kiss to her temple and eagerly jumps off the bathroom counter and into the Pokemon Center's lobby. The amused adult laughs to herself at her foster child's antics. She bombards Nurse Joy and her chansey when she returns with a small tray holding two pokeballs and takes both. She bows and gives thanks before scampering back to Cynthia. The champion murmurs a thank you and takes her pokeball from the small hand. It's placed back into her jacket.

Angel tilts her head in confusion when she hears the buzzing from the other blonde's pocket. She sticks her hand in the fabric compartment and pulls the vibrating phone out of her pocket when the champion takes no notice and instead is focusing her attention on the television. The platinum shoves the seziureing device toward Cynthia, who blinks at it in slight stupor before grasping it and pressing the talk button.

"Hello? Oh, Grandmother! How are you? Meet you at Lake Verity? Why? I see. Okay, I'll see you soon." The call is cut off and the cellular device placed back into her jacket. Gray eyes meet violet ones, "Well, Love, we're going to Lake Verity to meet my grandmother. Apparently they're have been some odd readings on the machines and Grandmother wants us to go meet her there."

…

Angel finds herself once again hidden in Cynthia's coat with her arms wrapped around her legs in nervousness when the old lady in a white lab coat approaches. She feels no comfort at the familiar gray eyes straining to steal a glance at her. The platinum hair moves to cover the girl's face.

Professor Carolina lifts an eyebrow at her granddaughter and huffs in amusement when Cynthia subtly attempts to gently dislodge the child from her leg.

"It's alright Cynthia. Leave her be. Though I must asks: who is she?"

"This is Angel, Grandmother. She's under my care now as my foster daughter. We met when I went to Kalos for the expedition match. She won the cup. Angel's really a sweetheart, honest. She's just a little… shy." Cynthia explains as she moves her coat aside to try to drive Angel out of her hiding spot. The little girl eeps at the sudden revelation.

"No need to be so guarded young child. It's not fitting for one not part of reality yet."

"Pardon me ma'am?" Angel question, respectful enough to show her full face.

"Be a youthful child while you still can. Come you two, look at our research." The old lady moves to guide them to a machine with two satellite dishes pointed at both the sky and water.

"Mama, what are they doing?" Angel whispers.

"I'm not sure. Grandmother, what is going on?" The champion asks as her grandmother turns away from the machine her assistants were surrounding.

"There have been odd currents of unexplainable energy waves. We feel it might have something to do with Mesprit." Carolina explains.

The champion looks on with curiosity. The lake guardians hadn't been sighted in the last three years when Team Galactic attempted to create the new dimension for their delusion master.

"You don't by any chance have Lucario with you? Since it can read aura we thought perhaps it might be able to pick up the waves better than our machines."

The blonde shook her head in disappointment, "I'm sorry I don't."

"Oh well, nothing we can do. Angel have you ever heard of Mesprit? Angel?" Both family members look down to see the little girl nowhere near the champion's legs. Cynthia immediately panics and scans the area, but sees no white hair.

"Angel? Angel!"

"Where would she go?" Carolina asked her granddaughter.

Thoughts swirled through the blonde's head before she hurried over to the machine. "Grandmother can you get an isoline map up of the area with the readings you've been receiving?"

"Yes, a foggy one, but why does that matter?" The graying haired woman asked as she brought a map onto the screen. The area pulsating a light green as the isolines glowed every few moments.

"Angel can emit a slight pulse that calms pokemon. I believe it's aura. Perhaps she can feel it too. and went looking for the source. But the source…" Two pairs of gray eyes focus on the water and a sinking feeling settles in Cynthia's chest when she sees nothing break the water's surface.

"Gastrodon, rise from the seas!"

The slug lands in the water and Cynthia immediately shoves the oxygen piece into her mouth before stripping off her coat so she was only in her undershirt and pants. She clutches her pokemon's neck and is dunked underwater. She glances around before pointing toward the center of the lake and waits impatiently as her gastrodon slinks along the bottom of the lakebed. Her desperation grows when no signs of the small girl are seen. Gray eyes glance down when her gastrodon turns its head toward the right. A deeper analyzation reveals a small cave opening.

Cynthia pulls the breather out of her mouth when she breaks the water surface of a cave. She glances around and sighs in relief when she sees Angel staring up at the small opening in the top of the underground cavern. The champion is followed by a puddle of water as she crawls onto the rock floor and approaches the girl. Steam seems to erupt from her skin as her worry fades to anger.

"What do you think you are doing?! You can't just wander off. Especially into a lake! What if you lost your oxygen piece? Then what?" The champion hisses and moves to turn the girl when she doesn't answer.

Cynthia stops and looks at Angel with newfound concern when she notices the child's dazed expression.

"Angel? Are you okay? Love?" Anxiety began flooding her senses again as she looked Angel in the eye.

"She wants us to leave the area. Your machines are scaring her." The voice came out with a gloomy tint.

"Who are we scaring Angel?"

"The pokemon who lives here. She said her name was Mesprit. She wants you to leave."


	10. Chapter 10

Carolina and her granddaughter stare at the girl as they sit outside Johanna's house on the back porch. She sits quietly under a tree surrounded by her pokemon. Cynthia gives thanks as the retired top coordinator places a tray of tea and condiments on the table in front of her next to a platter of sandwiches. The blue haired woman smiles and distributes the cups of liquid.

"She's a very quiet girl, isn't she?" The mother asks as she sits down.

"Yes. It's not natural for a six year old," Carolina states as she stirs sugar into her cup.

"Grandmother! Angel's a very lively girl. She's just…" Cynthia trails off as she finds that she can't find an accurate term.

Johanna notices the troubling thoughts bombarding the trainer. She notices the furrowed eyebrows and cloudy eyes and places a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "No worries Cynthia. I'm sure she'll be just fine." The older woman leans against the railing, "Angel!" The blonde looks up and begins approaching the house when the bluenette beckons her forward with a hand.

The three watch the girl trudge toward the house. Destin has discovered its favorite place is his trainer's head, which Angel didn't really mind because, despite initial thoughts, the pokemon didn't mucus up her hair. Diadem and Mystic kept snapping at each other and sulked into submission when Calamity attacked them with an Ice Shard.

"Hello, Dear. Would you like a snack?"

Angel looks up then back at her pokemon. A chorus of noise is emitted by the four pokemon. "I'm fine, but do you have anything for my pokemon? Diadem and Mystic are driving Calamity crazy with their moaning." Said pokemon turn to her and let out a wounded cry at their trainer.

When the woman returns with a basket of poffins she sits across from where Angel had seated herself next to Cynthia and slides a plate of apple slices across the table toward her. Johanna smiles when she offers a piece to Calamity, who decided to lay at her feet rather than get between the two larger pokemon fighting over the sweets. Johanna's eyebrows furrow in confusion when Angel digs through her knapsack and pulls out a handful of leaves. The small pieces are hand fed to the ball of goo resting on her head.

"Your pokemon eats leaves?"

"Yes. Destin's main diet consists of leaves in comparison to the various ingredients found in the pellets of pokemon food. Although he can eat that too." Angel jumps slightly when Glameow jumps onto the table before the young girl. It takes the apple slice offered.

"Now Glameow, that's impolite," She sighs when the pokemon ignores her comment and pushes her head into the small hand rubbing against her face. The gray feline pushes her way into the young trainer's lap. "She likes you."

"Pokemon tend to like Angel." Cynthia comments from her seat.

As the awkward silence filters in Carolina starts a conversation topic, "So, Angel. I heard you beat Cynthia earlier."

The child looks up at the grandmother, "I didn't beat your granddaughter. It was obvious that she was letting me win. If she was actually serious, we would be dealing with a mega evolved Garchomp and a battle that would last a total of fifteen minutes maximum."

"You still held your own quite nicely Love." Cynthia interjects as she moves a stray hair out of the child's face.

Angel looks up and nibbles on an apple slice before answering, "Calamity deserves the credit."

"Oh? So you like battling?" Johanna asks.

Angel shrugs indifference, "I enjoy the thrill of a good battle, but if I was to never battle again I'm not sure if I would care." She continues when she receives strange looks, "I battle because my pokemon like to battle. They like the connection it spurs and to demonstrate our power through battle. Domesticated pokemon are normally stronger because they have trainers to guide them, so my pokemon depend on me to help them grow. If, for some reason, they told me they never wanted to battle again and wanted to be released, I'd do that because forcing them to do something they don't enjoy takes away the comradery a journey presents. My friends would become my tools for power and destruction."

"If they told you?" Johanna asks instead of delving into the philosophy argument the little girl presented.

"Angel can communicate with pokemon." Cynthia explains to her grandmother and the retired contest star.

Both older woman stare at the girl in shock. The glameow looks up at the girl and mewls at the young child. The platinum tilts her head as she listens intently. The adults hold baited breaths as they wait for the conversation to end. Angel turn towards Johanna.

"Glameow says that, since she has the chance, she'd like to tell you a few complaints. Namely, she doesn't find it amusing when you wave a string in front of her face, her bed needs a new cushion, her traveler needs a cleaning, she prefers the old kibbles you were feeding her, and that she wants you to tell Dawn that she needs to stay out of her corner because she always leaves her heavy scent of perfume behind."

Carolina gives out a hearty laugh at the shocked look on Johanna's face and the contagious factor soon spreads as Cynthia and Johanna began to chortle to. Angel further tilts her head in confusion and looks at the champion.

"I don't get it."

…

Cynthia and Angel wave good bye as Carolina thanks Johanna for letting them stop by without notice because of the impromptu pack up at Lake Verity to keep its guardian happy. Cynthia opens the door of the jeep and jump into the backseat with Angel. Her grandmother jumps behind the wheel and the trio began rumbling down the road.

"Cynthia, I'm going to meet Professor Rowan in Sandgem Town. Will you join me?"

"Angel?" Cynthia asks the child next to her.

"Whatever you want," Angel murmurs as she leans into the champion's side to use the adult as a giant pillow.

"I guess we can go with you."

"Angel, I have a question for you," Violet eyes peel open to look at the older one's in the rearview mirror. "Mesprit. Did it tell you anything else?"

Angel remains silent as she considers the question. She rolls her head into to Cynthia's eyes before answering, "No. The machines make her nervous. Told me something happened three years ago and, even if you helped it then, the risk is too high." The violet eyes close as Angel closes her eyes and falls asleep against her guardian. The pink bearer of emotion's secret resonating through her head.


	11. Chapter 11

Angel wakes up to a familiar bumpy motion that she immediately associates with Cynthia's hurried strides. Cynthia smiles down at the adorable, foggy violet eyes staring at her in a sleep induced delirium. The child feels the champion's body shake when she pushes away and violently shoves her face back into the adult's neck when her eyes register the bright lights of the Pokemon Lab.

"You're pretty tired today," The blonde teases as she bounces the child.

"You dragged me to Hearthome to look at some ruin, which I admit was pretty cool. Then flew us to a lake where I had a twenty minute swim, a quick retreat to Twinleaf for lunch and socialising, and finally a forty-five minute drive here. Excuse me for being tired. And stop bouncing me!" She whines as she grasps the adult's shirt in irritation.

"Cranky?" Cynthia cooes and chortles at the glare she receives.

Angel slinks off her carrier and looks around to see that they had entered a room full of spectators. Her cheeks flush and she doesn't hesitate to hide in Cynthia's jacket to avoid the amused eyeballs. She buries her face into the back of the blonde's pants and feels the fur coat wrap around her like a cocoon. She hears a slight chuckle that originated from the champion's grandmother.

"Guess you have some life to you after all."

"My liveliness and my annoyance with your granddaughter are not the same thing," The muffled voice earns another round of laughter.

Angel's somewhat joyous shrieks are added when Cynthia digs her fingers into the child sides behind her and the little girl removes herself slightly from her hiding spot to join the land of the living. Cynthia smiles, it was progress.

The violet eyes stare at the machines in curiosity. She stares at the screen to her side and tilts her head as the recording plays quietly on repeat. Her eyebrows furrow as she leans closer to try and hear better. Angel turns to one of the assistants watching her with curiosity and points at the screen.

"Can you turn up the volume for me? It's hard to hear what it's saying when it's so quiet."

The assistant stares at her in a stupor before hurrying to do as she was told and pushes up the small lever on the keyboard below the screen. The frequency rises as the volume increases and everyone stares intently when Angel deeply furrowed her brows in confusion.

"Well?" Professor Carolina asks impatiently.

"It's blurry. Like it was speaking with a foghorn in the background. It's angry whatever it is. Can you give me another minute?" Angel answers as she moves even closer and closes her eyes in concentration. Cynthia moves to stand next to the child as she opens her eyes when the sound replays twice. Gray eyes widened in concern when she notices the disturbed glint in the child's violet orbs.

"What did you hear?" Cynthia prods.

"I can't even tell the gender of it, but I can tell it's not happy. The words, if you can even call them that, are gurgled and slurred. Ancient sounding too. I made out a thought or two though."

"What was it?" The blonde pushes the younger's hair away from her face.

"I don't think I could recite it even if I knew how to pronounce it. Either way I'd be wary of that pokemon. It seems lost in its anger. Where did you record this?"

Professor Rowan is the one to answer, "On Route 214. It's quite a ways away from here. We were recording for a swarm of pokemon and found this instead. This recording is actually amplified by around one hundred."

"Stay away from there if you know what's good for you. Running into whatever that thing is…" Angel trails off as she shudders in discomfort and forces her way into Cynthia's arms. She shoves her face into Cynthia's shoulder.

"How, exactly, is she able to understand this recording?" One of the assistants speaks up meekly.

"We're not really sure, but it's phenomenal isn't it?" Cynthia gushes and chuckles quietly when the child blushes.

"Quite. Angel, perhaps you'd be able to assist me with a pokemon that recently came into the lab. A small gible has been recovering here and has been rather hostile."

"I can look at it, but no guarantees on anything. Mama could you let Garchomp out? I find pokemon feel more reassured when a member of its species' family is present."

"Of course Love."

The dragonic beast roars and sniffs at the air before bumping Angel with a friendly claw. The child smiles and gives the dragon's head a loving pat. Garchomp tromps over to her trainer and sniffs at her as she makes sure she's alright.

"Hello Garchomp. Would you mind lending us a hand?" The dragon gives out a cry.

"Thank you Garchomp. Much appreciated." Angel thanks as they are led outside and into a fenced pasture.

Professor Rowan scans the grassy plain before making a beeline to the one rocky area in the whole enclosure. He motions girl and dragon forward and waits on the side with Cynthia as they approach the small hole in the rocks. Garchomp lets out a cry to coax the pokemon hiding in the shadows out.

The gible was small. That was Angel's first observation. It had a jagged fin, making it male, and a scowl displayed its razor teeth that he kept snapping the air with as an intimidation factor. Muscle lines furrowed as it cried out a warning and threatening growls emitted from its throat. The pointy teeth dig into Angel's flesh when she reaches a hand out to try and stroke its head. Cynthia rushes forward to pry the pokemon off her Angel when Rowan grasps her arm.

"What are you…"

"Let me see how this plays out." The gruff man answers and represses a shiver when the blonde throws him the iciest of glare.

"If you are suggesting in the slightest that you are using my daughter as a subject for your research, I will release my garchomp onto your precious files."

"It's not that Cynthia. You should know I wouldn't leave a small girl to get mauled by a gible. Garchomp will make sure of that." The professor motions with the hand not being slowly strangled by the champion's long nails, at the girl in front of them. "Look."

The gray eyes move to the trio. Garchomp was leaning over the two smaller creatures as the gible reluctantly releases its grip on the child's hand. The bigger dragon gives a short, curt murmur to the small pokemon who turns to Angel and lets out an apologetic cry and licks the puncture wounds it had caused. Angel doesn't respond and instead rubs a reassuring palm over its head. Garchomp gives a friendly cry. The child returns to the champion's side and rolls her eyes when her hand is instantly grabbed to be examined.

"Relax. It's nothing important. The gible will be fine Professor. He has some inner rage, but will warm up eventually. Just leave it be."

…

The blonde champion untangles the small arms from around her neck and tucks the child into the bed at the pokemon center. She places a kiss onto the child's forehead before turning off the light. Her grandmother watches her exit.

"Well this was an exciting day."

"She's wiped." Cynthia agrees as she closes the door and they make their way to the lobby.

"How long have you had her?"

"She's been in Sinnoh for over three weeks now. Can't believe how time flies."

"Are you going to bring her to Celestic Town? I'm sure everyone would enjoy meeting her." Carolina states as she places a teacup in front of her granddaughter.

Cynthia stirs extra sugar into her tea before taking a sip of the herbal ambrosia. She feels its warmth melt down her throat and wraps her palms around the china. "I'll think about it. You know how she is around strangers."

The professor grunts in reply and nods. The old woman quiets for a few moments before speaking again. "Are you going to adopt her?" Carolina asks, never straying her eyes away from her cup.

"I would like to." The champion answers as she places the empty cup onto the table. Her gray eyes stray to the clock on the wall before they return to her elder. "Would that be okay?"

The professor doesn't answer in preference of having Cynthia come to the answer herself, but decides to put the girl out of her misery when the similar gray eyes stare at her expectantly, "I don't care either way, the real question is, is this what you really want. Don't think that what I'm about to say make you think I don't like her, but you think a decision like this through before you jump in. You're young. You might find a boyfriend one day and what if they don't like each other? You're a champion who travels across this country and to countless others for appearances, battles, tournaments, etc. Would Angel like being dragged everywhere, or would she not be lonely and missing you if she decided to stay behind and wait. There are consequences to this decision."

Cynthia looks down at her fiddling hands. The pale digits twist around each other as the champion ponders the reality check given to her. She had half a mind to just throw romance out the window, but knew that it wasn't rational to pretend that one day she might never fall in love. And travel?

"Don't strain your brain now. Think about it later. I just wanted to bring it up before you get too attached." The professor stands, clears the wrinkles of her coat, and walks out of the lobby to her room.

Cynthia sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. "Before I get too attached, huh? Way too late for that."


	12. Chapter 12

The tired champion runs a weary hand through her tresses as she knocks on Angel's door. They had returned from Sandgem late yesterday night and Angel had just about dropped dead after running around after that troublesome gible then doubling with Cynthia on her togekiss after Mystic overindulged on his food and couldn't fly more than four feet off the ground.

Her gray eyes furrow and she increases the frequency of her knocking when the child doesn't answer.

"Angel? Angel open up."

Aaron stop his walk to the kitchen when he notices the champion standing with an anxious look on her face at Angel's door.

"What's up Cynthia?"

"Angel's not answering. She can't still be sleeping could she? Aaron tell the others I'll be down in a minute."

The green haired man shrugs and walks off toward the dining room for breakfast. Cynthia turns back to the door and gives it another knock. Concern growing and patience lost, the champion twists the knob and growls out a curse when the door shakes in the lock. A bang is heard when she rams her shoulder into the door. Frustrated, Cynthia grabs for her pokeball, but stops when she hears a ruffle of sheets.

"Who is it?"

"Angel? Are you awake? What's wrong with your voice" Cynthia asks as the door opens to reveal a flushed child wearing her blanket like a cloak. "Oh Sweetie, not feeling good?"

Angel sneezes in response and her curtain of hair poofs with her head movement. Her nose twitches as she sniffles.

"I'm sick."

"I noticed. Alright, come on." The older woman reaches down and grasps the girl under her arms to heave her onto her hip.

"I'll get y-you s-sick," Angel stutters as she prepares to sneeze. Cynthia leans away when the small body jumps with the sneeze.

"Doesn't matter. You can rest in my room where I can do paperwork." The blonde strides down the hall with the sniffling child and opens her bedroom suite's door.

Angel had been in Cynthia's suite only a one other time prior. That time being when she first came to the league building and Cynthia wanted to show the little girl where to find her. When she first saw the mess that was the archaeologist's office, she had assumed it was due to last minute whirlwind packing to make it to Kalos in time. But that was almost a month ago. Now Angel knows that her foster parent was just a pack rat for anything dusty, musty, ancient, or made of paper. In other words, books, papers, and drawings scattered on every raised platform that wasn't a chair in piles that at times towered over Angel herself. Although one could easily find that fact non impressive because of Angel's three foot four stature.

Angel's small body is laid on top of the couch in Cynthia's office and the blanket is tightly wrapped around her so that she was cocooned in the sheet. Her white hair is pushed away from her red face.

"Don't worry Love. I'll be right back. I'm going to grab us something to eat, kay?"

Cynthia bursts out of the kitchen balancing a tray of food in one hand and two bottles of water in the other. Lucian's hand jolts out to catch the dropping canister of water and pries the other one from the woman's hand.

"Thank you, Lucian. Angel's sick and I want to get some food in her system." The champion explains as she shifts her load in her arms.

"Sick? With what?" Flint asks through his mouthful of eggs.

"Not sure yet."

"I'll come with you Cynthia." Bertha states as she wipes her mouth with a napkin before she stands from her seat at the dining table.

The chair scrapes against the tile as the veteran trainer pushes her seat away and takes the water bottles of Lucian. Cynthia gives her a nod of thanks before turning her back to the older woman and rushing out the mess hall door. She fumbles with the food as she tries to keep it balanced with her hurried movements as she makes her way down the hall. Bertha stays a few steps behind to avoid possible explosion from the containers of food if they were to hit the ground the wrong way. The champion swirls her body to keep the tray balanced as she opens the door to her suite.

"Cynthia, you need to clean up in here. I know you are researching the history of the Creation Trio, but seriously, this place is a mess."

Cynthia chuckles, "I'll get to it." She places the tray of food down onto one of the few empty spaces and focuses her attention on Angel's frame. The girl's shallow and rapid breathing making the blanket around her crest and fall rapidly. Angel closes her eyes as Cynthia places a cool palm to her forehead.

"She's burning up." The blonde stated worryingly as she holds Angel's head in her hands. The red skin burns her skin and the foggy eyes roll to meet the gray orbs.

"Mama, I don't feel good. My throat hurts my head hurts."

"I know Love." She turns to Bertha, "Bertha do you think you can call a doctor. She might have the flu, or a really bad cold."

The old woman nods and walks out of the room already dialing her cell phone. Cynthia reaches out and grasps the nearby plastic bottle. A crackle is heard as the seal is broken and the champion carefully brings the bottle towards the panting child. The girl turns away when the water is brought to her lips. Angel slightly shakes her head and watches as the water is pulled away from her face.

"You need to drink Love. Come on, I know your head hurts, but this will make you feel a little better."

Angel's lips part as she lets the water pass down her throat. She coughs as she slightly chokes on the tail end of the liquid and the blanket prevents the reassuring hand rubbing circles into her back from doing its job.

"Good girl. Go to sleep. A doctor will be here soon with medicine."

…

Angel rubs at her eyes and re-opens them. However, the blurry pink fog surrounding her doesn't disappear. She sighs and her lips vibrate with the motion. She moves her legs and grimaces at the lethargic way her legs shuffle. Her violet eyes focus on the figure coming in and out of focus.

"Mesprit, if you insist on dragging my consciousness into a dreamscape, can't you at least make it less hot?"

"This heat is your own doing, hatchling. Your fever is affecting your dream."

Angel wipes at non-existent sweat, "Are you actually communicating with me or is this just a fever dream?"

"I am projecting my image into your consciousness. I'm here to warn you." The cheerful tone is lost and turns toward a loud whisper. Hushed by echoing. "The orbs are in danger. You are the only human I met that could help."

"What are you talking about?" Angel asks as she tries to muddle through the mist to get closer to the guardian.

"Listen, hatchling. You hear our voice. The renegade has been disturbed. It's anger sparked anew. Corrupted sun, empty and hollow, trespasses oblivion. Help us please, for the fury will engulf the sacred pillar and the scale will crumble. The dimension will distort and the alpha will cast judgement."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Angel shouts as the pink creature begins to fade.

"Help us, hatchling. "

Angel's eyelids shoot open and catch sight of the ground specialist's brown scarf. The child curls inward into her blanket when a male invades her headspace.

"Don't worry young one. This is Dr. Ryker. He's going to see what's wrong and help us fix it."

"Bertha, I just had a dream. Mesprit…"

"Nonsense. The lake guardians have been dormant for years. The fevers affecting your dreams. So looky here." The doctor cuts Angel off and forces her head up. "Open. Irritated throat, nasal drip, high fever. You said she was sneezing earlier?"

Bertha nods and Dr. Ryker turns to dig through his medicine bag, "Seems to be a bad cold. This should fix 'er up. "Course rest will be necessary too." A bottle is handed to Bertha.

"Thank you sir."

Angel turns questioning eyes on the old woman, who looks up from the medicine bottle and smiles warmly. "Don't worry, Cynthia will be back soon. She got a phone call from her grandmother."

Angel nods and cuddles into her pillow. Her violet orbs flicker to the side when her foggy mind notices a sound in the background. Familiar hands move away the strands of hair glued to her forehead and the champion kisses the child's burning forehead.

"At least it's just a cold. You'll be better soon. I'm going to need you to take this medicine though, okay Love?" The small cup of purple syrup is forced down the child's throat and Cynthia turns to Bertha as Angel gags. "Thank you Bertha. I got it from here."

When the champion hears the veteran trainer leave she gives Angel a reassuring smile. She makes her way to her desk and flips through the ancient book of Sinnoh myths. The gray orbs look up when she hears Angel call out her title.

"Mama?"

"Yes Love?"

"What's a renegade?" Angel flips over to better face the woman staring at her slightly dumbfounded.

"A renegade as a thing is a person who betrays another person, or a group, or a set of rules. As a description it means to treacherously change sides." Cynthia's brows furrow, "Why do you want to know. Where did you even hear that word?"

Angel turns away from her foster parent and closes her eyes. "Don't remember. Probably Lucian. I'm going to go back to sleep."

"Alright, Love. I'll be here when you wake up."

Angel's eyes open slightly and she chews her lip with guilt before forcing the anxiety away. The violet circles vanish as her eyelids close.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks _purplekitties_ for the review. I do actually have a plot for this thing, but a lot of it is tooth rotting fluff. Happy to know you enjoy the story.**

Angel opens her eyes and grunts through her finally non-sore throat after days of her "beyond average cold" to Cynthia's phone jumping along her nightstand. She sits up and runs her hands along her face as she ponders why her guardian's electronic device is in her room and why her nightstand had went from mahogany to black. Why was there a rug on her floor? Where was her dresser? Angel knows for a fact she doesn't have a gigantic flat screen in front of her bed. The fog in her brain clears when she remembers that she had had a movie marathon of must watch kid cartoons. The child must've fallen asleep and the blonde too lazy to carry her back to her room, or they both just crashed.

The small fingers grasps the bouncing rectangle and smashes her thumb into the accept icon.

"Hello?" She clears her throat to rid the raspy tone.

"Angel? Is that you? Where's my granddaughter?"

"I don't know where…" Angel is cut off when the cell phone is taken from her hand and Cynthia presses it to her ear.

"Hello Grandmother. Sorry, I was opening a package that Looker sent me. Nothing important, just a file. Am I busy? I have a gym check in Snowpoint, but other than that…" The champion trails off and listens for a moment. "A new section in the ruins?" Excitement laced her tone as she straightened. "Yes, yes. I'll be there this weekend."

The phone is hidden beneath the fabric of Cynthia's pant's pocket and the champion reaches out to sit the child up. They slide down her sides to tickles Angel's midsection and a burst of giggles get released.

"Stop it! Mama! If this is your way of asking me to go with you then it's not working in your favor!"

The young trainer rolls away from the the assaulting fingers and flops onto the ground with an annoyed grunt. Cynthia lets out a small chuckle before dragging the noodle child onto her feet.

"Do you want to come or not?"

"Sure. Ruins are cool."

The champion smiles at the blooming history buff and pats her head. "Go pack then. Oh, and bring something warm. As it's name suggests, Snowpoint has snow."

…

Angel buries her face into Diadem's neck fur to absorb the fire type's heat. She could barely make out Cynthia's figure as rode on Garchomp via holding onto the gigantic dorsal fin protruding from its back, through the blizzard. Mystic and Togekiss had hit an incoming hailstorm on their way to Snowpoint and it had forced the duo to land before wings froze or bled from being bombarded with ice shards.

Her violet eyes look up and her head pivots side to side when she loses sight of Cynthia in the accumulating snow swirling around her body. She narrows and widens her eyes as if it would increase her vision and rubs the canine's neck in reassurance when it whines in distress.

"Calm down Diadem, we can make it out of here without Cynthia. Even though we have no idea where we are, or where we're going, or how to get here." Angel swallowed the lump in her throat.

The arcanine braced itself and his human covered her face with an arm when the gale strengthen. Angel regretted it when she almost was blown off the red creature's back. Her fingers dig into the neck scruff.

A shudder tore through her body when her hair shifts and leaves her neck bare to the frigid wind. She releases her iron grip for a minute to throw her faux fur hood over her head.

"Give me an Ember Diadem."

Sparks erupt and turn her view into a misty, permeable haze that allowed some vision through the blizzard.

" _And_ nothing. Great… Can you see anything Diadem?" She slumps her shoulders at the negative grumble.

"Uh. Let's, uh, head over there and wait in the forest until this settles down a tad. We won't get anywhere in this snowstorm."

Calamity and Diadem use their bodies to create a small nest below a large boulder on the outskirts of the forest. The two pokemon curl around their master to give her warmth and Angel runs a hand over both of their heads. A small fire of burning twigs laid in a patch of frozen dirt that the child had cleared the snow away from. It crackled in the crystallized air.

"Thanks guys," She buried deeper into Diadem's fur, "I'm going to sleep away this cold. Stand guard will ya?"

Reassuring growls was all she got in return and she felt Calamity scooch closer to her frame as she drooped her eyes.

Her body being forced into the snow fort's wall aroused her from her slumber and her dreams of wandering the Frost Cavern back in Kalos. In theory the rude awakening probably worked in her favor, if only because the cold invading her dreams most likely indicated pre-hypothermia. She opens her eyes to see Diadem crouching over her low to the packed snow that made up the floor. Calamity growls menacingly at the large, imposing beast hovering over the small enclosure.

"Woah Abomasnow. Stand down!" A pale figure yells from her perch in a tree before she jumps down and walks around the giant pokemon and gave its arm a pat. "What's up with this absol?"

"Sorry, she's being protective. Calamity." The red pokemon russeles the scruff of fur around her neck and chest before sulking back to her trainer. Vibrations of displeasure echoed from the absol as it settles by her side. "Diadem lay off." The arcanine lifts its body away from his trainer and sits on its haunches.

"It's all right! Abomasnow must've seen you. That or she sensed your body heat. What'cha doin' out here in the cold?" The extremely underdressed girl asked as she untied her jacket from around her waist and offered it to the child.

Angel refused the offering and stood up, "I got separated from my Mama on our way to Snowpoint. I was going to wait until the storm cleared up a little before I started moving again." The child warms her hands by rubbing them together.

The teenager repositions the green jacket around her waist, "Oh I can show you to Snowpoint. I live there after all. Where do you want me to drop you off? The PokeCenter?"

"Actually, maybe the gym? She's heading there as far as I know. Although she might be tearing a trench through your streets looking for me."

The ravenette lets out a laugh and points behind her, "Okay then. We'll go to the gym and see the damage."

…

"So, kid, where you from? You traveling with your mom for her work."

Angel nods, "Yeah, my mama's here on business. I'm from Kalos." Calamity barks in agreement. Her pendant swings around her neck.

"What's that necklace on your absol for?" The teen asks as she motions a hand at the absol's neck.

"That? It's her mega stone. Absolite. I know that Sinnoh, as far as studies show, doesn't naturally form mega or key stones; I wouldn't really be shocked if people from Sinnoh don't know much about it." Angel states as she shows the pale girl her hand that held her key stone.

"Color me surprised. I think I've heard of it, but no, I don't know much. Shame, really. It would be a cool topic to talk to my class about. Anyway I could get you to come talk to the students?"

Angel smiled nervously and tried to think up an excuse. However, an excited chirp directed her attention upwards. Togekiss flew happily overhead and flapped its wings in excitement. It bulleted to the child's side and circled Angel.

"Togekiss! Have you and Mama been looking for me?" Angel asks happily as she rubs a wing.

"Togekiss! Did you find her?" Cynthia's voice filters through as the champion rounds a corner. Her gray eyes flood with relief as she stops before Angel. "Thank goodness you're okay. I was so worried. You're alright, right? I'm sorry that I went to fast that you couldn't keep up." Guilt laced her voice.

"I'm fine Mama. This girl helped me!"

Cynthia looks behind her child and at the pale teenager staring at her in a stupor.

"She's your daughter Cynthia? Uh… Never knew you had one…"

"Angel and I just met just over a month ago. She's my foster daughter." Cynthia explains as she leans down and brings the child onto her hip. She releases a sigh of relief when the champion notices that the little girl is still warm to the touch. "Angel, this is Candice, Snowpoint's gym leader."

Angel eyes widen slightly in surprise before she turns around and flashes a smile at the gym leader. "Thanks for finding me and bringing me here."

"No problem. Thing is though, there's always a blizzard or some sort of storm going on on that route. You would've been stuck there for awhile if I didn't step in. Gym check right Cynthia?"

The woman turns and nods before placing the child on the ground and grasping Angel's hand. She follows the trainer to her gym.

As expected, the gym was running smoothly. Records of challengers were up to date, pokemon taken care of, and the building itself was stable. Angel had fallen asleep on one of the benches in the spectator box while the two older females completed the exam. Cynthia had thrown her jacket over the child and, currently, was just sitting down with Candice for a snack. Cynthia nibbles on a Tomato Berry ice cream sandwich. A tall glass of water stood on standby for when she reached the core.

"So Angel told me that her absol can mega evolve and showed me her, what was it, a key stone?" Candice inquires.

"Yes. She can. She gave me one of my own, but I have yet to use it." Cynthia answers as her tongue meets the spicy core of the sweet. Her face puckers and her eyes widen as she fumbles for her water glass.

Candice giggles as the champion gulps down the glass, "It's a wise idea to eat the ice cream and the filling together. You'll find it numbs the burn."

"As I was going to say, if you really want a demonstration, me and Garchomp could help you out. We might be a little rocky but…"

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Angel cuts off as she approaches the table dragging the tail of Cynthia's jacket behind her. "You shouldn't try it for the first time in front of a bunch of civilians. I've heard that sometimes when a trainer mega evolves for the first time that a pokemon can, at times, lose control. That might not be the best thing in a room full of children, eh?"

The young blonde pats Cynthia's leg and the champions arms wrap around her to help her climb onto the older's lap. Angel wraps the tail of the oversized jacket around her legs to block out the chill the air conditioner blew through the vents to keep the ice from melting. She felt warmth wrap around her waist and placed her still sleepy head on Cynthia's chest.

"You sleep a lot you know." The champion divulges as she brings the ice cream bar to her mouth.

"I'm a kid. Don't drop that onto me." Angel murmurs as she waits for her brain to wake up.

"Well, this is fun and all, but I have a class to do. You're welcome to join me if you want too, but Lake Acuity isn't too far off otherwise. I'm sorry to say that that's all we have around here Angel." Candice says apologetically as she stands and pulls her arms through the sleeves.

Cynthia looks down at the slightly awaken child, "Love?"

"Hm? I don't care. You pick." Angel buries her head into the black jacket, the faux fur carassing her face


	14. Chapter 14

**A little short, but next chapter is longer and I'll post it either tomorrow or Saturday. Thanks for the review** ** _zachlor16._** **Glad you like it.**

Angel's feet crunch as the snow beneath her feet catches her weight like a cushion. Calamity silently pads along as her person looks along the cityscape from the Pokemon Center's famous red roof. She tightens her scarf around her neck as the air current swivels around her body and tickles her skin. Cynthia had followed Candice to the trainer school to demonstrate how to properly command pokemon in battle. Angel had snuck away when Cynthia wasn't looking, and judging by the way she didn't have a garchomp and her twenty-eight year old trainer on her tail, the tall blonde was fully aware that she had left. Calamity lets out a steamed huffs beside her.

"I don't work well with other kids; you know that. Besides, she would make me battle her and I don't want to humiliate myself… Come on. We can go train everyone."

A multi-colored dragon shaped beam erupts from the larger head of the hydreigon. The explosive beam is deflected by a Flamethrower as Diadem circles the Dragon Pulse in a flip. The mixture erupts and throws the snow outward to make sparkles fly through the sky. Destin watches in awe before shaking his head to focus on his trainer's commands.

"Destin, Bide!"

The white aura encloses the pokemon as the absol advances and raises a paw covered with a purple hue to bring down on the small pokemon. It concentrated his body mass into its core and took the attack. The ball of goo falls back slightly when the next attack hits.

Angel analyzes and waits for the inevitable attack. Calamity senses it a moment before she does, for the white pokemon flips away as the white beam erupts from the small body and demolished a line of trees. Diadem and Mystic pause their mock battle and turn to watch as the light fades and the newest recruit depresses into the snow, sweat beading its frame. Diadem huffs, condensated air fogs around his snout and his ruff expands with the movement.

"I wasn't expecting it either," Angel rests a palm on the goomy's body and gives him a smile. "That was awesome Destin! Good job!"

The blob raises his head and lets out a cheerful cry before straightening and looking forward with a focused stance.

"All ready to go again huh? Alright. Destin, Calamity, encore!"

…

Cynthia bids goodbye to Candice, who gives a rushed wave in return before dashing back inside to tend to the chaos inside her classroom. Her demonstration was cut short when two children started a fight over their loaned pokemon and fired an armada of fire based attacks into the room. Luckily, no one was hurt, but almost everyone had gotten soaked to the bone once the sprinkler system had gone off. The blonde champion turns to the still wet, unhappy dragon next to her.

"Think she's had enough time to herself? I wanted to show her the ruins and the lakefront, but we're running out of time if we want to get home tomorrow."

Garchomp grunts her reply and Cynthia wished she was able to tell if it was one of agreement or not. Even after having this pokemon since it was a gible, her garchomp could still be extremely hard to read, even after over a decade.

It's not like the champion was overly worried, she had released her lucario from its ball to trail her the moment she noticed the platinum blonde sneaking toward the door; but still, it makes her uneasy not knowing for sure where the little girl was. A claw lightly tapping her back made her snap back to the present. The garchomp motioned to Togekiss' pokeball.

"Okay, okay let's go find her."

Lucario looks up at the flying, white avian circling above his head. The bipedal pokemon stops at the invisible pulse she feels barrage her breastbone. She flaps her wings to remain hovering and looks down at her teammate. The white pokemon chirps and circles the area before jolting back, flapping her wings frantically in shock, when an explosive white beam topples an area of trees.

Togekiss lets out a surprised chirp and projects her body back to avoid collision. She tucks in her wings to torpedo out of the way and back to her trainer and hopes that Lucario had evaded the attack. She frantically flaps feathered wings in front of her trainer and the blonde's shoulders slump.

"Angel's near that explosion isn't she," the champion doesn't even wait for a reply, "I already know she's there. Thanks for the help Togekiss, return."

The red beam encases the white figure and the pokeball is deposited into her jacket. She perches herself onto the back of her garchomp. One arm wraps around the joint of the shoulder and a hand around the dragon's dorsal. The beast immediately speeds toward the area where the light had faded.

Garchomp stops when she meets Lucario's figure at the tree line. Cynthia moves to ask Lucario a question, but stops when the blue canine motions to be quiet. He raises a paw out to the clearing and the gray orbs gaze toward the outcrop. The champion looks out to see the goomy absorb the Flamethrower thrown at it by its larger teammate. She watches the young girl duck to avoid the Bide directed in her general direction.

"Great job Destin, but let's call it a day for now. You're getting tired."

The ball of goo lets out a defiant cry as his trainer takes out his capsule. Angel smiles as she returns the pokemon into its ball, "You did awesome. No need to overwork yourself Destin." She plants a soft kiss on the container and connects it to her belt. Purple eyes roll skyward and notice the sun lowering in the sky, "We should get back. Mama's probably going to send someone after me soon." Her two larger pokemon retreat to their balls and click to her belt until only Calamity remains by her side.

The platinum begins to panic when her vision vanishes and something warm wraps around her eyes. She forces her body downward to attempt to shake the mass off her eyes and tumbles into her attacker after slipping on the slush.

"Just me Angel."

"Mama? You scared me. Calamity, why didn't you say anything?!" The little girl accuses. She puffs out her cheeks at the pokemon when it grumbles. "That's not nice… I don't care if you knew she wouldn't hurt me; I got spooked!"

Cynthia laughs slightly and grabs the child's hand, "Come on Love. We have to get back for dinner. Sorry to tell you this, but we aren't going to get to the lake this visit."

"But, Mama!" Angel complains as she stops and tries to get Cynthia to reconsider.

"Sorry, Angel. Next time, okay?"

Angel sighs in disappointment.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thank you for the review _Ratorex._ It's much appreciated and encourages me to write more.**

Angel wakes up with a jump from her dream, the foggy memory already slipping from her brain and out the unsealed window. Mesprit has been visiting her dreamscape to divulge the history of Sinnoh and fact check common folklore she had learned from Cynthia during her stay, but this visit… She looks across the room to see Cynthia still slumbering, her back rising and falling evenly, and lets out a slight sigh of relief. She slowly moves her legs over the side of the bed. Hesitant feet recoil when they meet the cold wood floor and flit across to the carpet in the middle of the room. The child rubs one eye with a tired fist and gropes around the darkness for her trainer belt with the other. She secures it around her waist, throws a sweatshirt and sweatpants over her pajamas, and casts one last look at the sleeping champion before silently slipping out the door.

Angel ignores the wriggling luxury ball at her side as Mystic speeds away from Snowpoint City. She casts a nervous glance over her shoulder as if she thought the large dragon and white avian would descend upon her at any moment.

"Hurry Mystic." The dark dragon murmurs beneath her, "I don't know why Mesprit wants me there, but I know I have to go. Please, trust me on this."

A displeased huff puffs out the dragon's body before it yields to the pressure against his wing and tilts its direction to the raised plateau in the distance. He continues his incoherent gibberish to display his displeasure and has half a mind to turn wing and throw her through Cynthia's window so she can take her lumps for sneaking out, but the anxious vibe pulsating from the child makes him just head toward the incoming body of water.

Angel clicks her pokeball back onto her belt and unlatches the item from her waist to rest on a rock. She saw all four shake violently as she distanced herself from their resting place. Violet eyes flash away as the black sphere explodes open and an aggravated red hued guardian slumps forward. The absol growls when the child sheds her outward clothing and prepares to dive into the lake.

"I'm not going to get myself killed, Calamity. The voice said go to the center. That's what I'm doing."

The red creature grips at the undershirt she was wearing and tries to pull the child away, but the stubborn human jumps away. The fabric rips and the child takes a breath before kicking her way across the waterway. The shiny pokemon, not the strongest of swimmers, paces across the water edge as she sees her trainer crawl onto the raised island in the middle of the water. She crawls through the entrance and disappears from sight. Calamity growls in aggravation.

"Excuse me? Anyone here?" The cold seeps into her bones as she rubs her freezing arms. A wind seems to blow and whistle through the crevices in the rock.

 _"Get out…"_ A whisper hisses on the wind.

A chill runs down her spine with a tingle at the eerie similarity to the recording she heard almost a week ago.

"Mesprit told me to come here. I'm not going anywhere." Angel states defiantly as she steps further into the dark cave.

 _"Get out hatchling._ Don't you know _what comes out in the night? Things with teeth, claws, hunger. Shouldn't you be hiding behind your mother, hatchling?"_ The hiss wraps around her head and flicks through her ear canal. Angel squirmed.

"I can handle myself. Where's the pokemon I'm supposed to be meeting."

 _"Who's to say it's here? Perhaps it was a lie."_

Violet eyes roll, "Please. Mesprit wouldn't lie to me."

 _"I'm aware she needs you. Perhaps I can sway you to leave it alone. If you do then I'll leave your mother alive."_

The invisible pulse seems to halo the girl at the threat and she narrows her eyes to slits. Her pupils contract to take on a more savage appearance, violet orbs radiating an ethereal glow.

"You touch my mama, and me and my pokemon will tear your invisible body to shreds. Now leave and show me what I came here for."

An physic glow encases a boulder lodged into the ceiling and descends to allow the moonlight to filter in. The boulder moves to the side and the moon glow reveals a small blue pokemon and a matching yellow one. The lake guardian's eyes loose their physic glow and clash with the befuddled purple eyes.

" _Hello hatchling. Pardon the rude welcome. Azelf tends to test his visitors for their willpower_."

"Tell me more about this Team Galactic that Mesprit mentioned. Why do you think they're targeting you again? Who are you two anyway?"

 _"We are the other two that make up the lake guardian trio. We can not say much to you hatchling. Even my premonitions can only tell us so much. Something is going to happen, hatchling. Something big. Something dangerous. We feel you can help. Your heart, your willpower, your wisdom. Use it. The renegade is preparing."_ Uxie forwarns.

"What does that mean?" Angel yells out, frustrated.

 _"We can't tell you. The renegade is watching. Look to the past."_

The two pokemon stare at her a moment longer before swirling out through the hole of the cavern. Angel stomps her foot in aggravation.

"Stupid legendaries and their riddles…"

…

Angel wraps the towel tighter around her warmed body as she pads her way away from the washroom and back to her room. Two hours after attempting to sleep wet she gave up and left to shower. No longer frozen to her marrow, and hopefully lucky enough to avoid another cold, the child is mostly certain that she had gotten away with her escapade scot free. The door handle turns and the wood creaks as she enters. She winces back when she sees the champion sitting in the window seat with a book in hand.

"Early shower for a girl who hates morning showers."

"I missed mine last night," Angle fibs smoothly as she slides across the floor and grabs a change of clothes.

"So you woke up before five am to shower?" The champion inquires as she closes her dusty epic history book of some sort and places the block on the table. She crawls off the window seat and makes her way to the child fumbling with the sweatshirt placed on a too high shelf. The sweatshirt is pulled over her head and Angel pushes her arms through the holes.

"So, want to tell me where you went during the middle of the night?" Cynthia asks as she takes her hairbrush off the table and turns on the hair dryer.

Angel congratulated herself on the fact she didn't even stiffen, but nibbles her lip in guilt before releasing false words from impure lips.

"I got up to go to the bathroom, and the water sprayed all over me so I got soaked," She mutters as she feels the bristles of the brush filter through her damp hair and feels her strands float around her body as the machine dries the locks.

"And that took two and a half hours?" Cynthia presses, her voice slightly overrun by the purr of the motor. She sighs when Angel doesn't respond and turns off the dryer. The hairdresser is placed back on the table and Cynthia gets off the edge of Angel's bed. "I'm disappointed you won't tell me. We leave in an hour."

Angel's violet eyes widen and she downcasts her eyes in shame as the blonde champion puts on her jacket and walks out of the room. Her stomach churns as her regret tumbles around and she forces the lump in her throat down.

…

Cynthia watches as the platinum blonde pushes her breakfast around her plate. She raises a slight eyebrow when she notices the huff Calamity directs at her owner before dramatically looking away when the young trainer looks toward the noise. The arcanine and hydreigon look at the two from their food dishes. Diadem lets out a woof and Angel lets out a shaky smile.

"Great idea Diadem. Let's go have a mock battle." The pale girl grabs her goomy and her two large pokemon get up to follow. Calamity stays lying down by her food dish. It opens one green eye when Destin squeaks. She listens for a moment before pushing her bowl away with her horn and settling near Cynthia. Angel crosses her arms in irritation and leaves.

The archeologist looks down at the shiny pokemon obviously trying to make a point, "I wish you could just tell me what happened. She left right?" The red pokemon nods. "Why didn't she just tell me where she went? Does she not trust me?" Silence is her answer. "I'm not really sure why I'm asking you. I can't understand your response."

Mystic turns around when a stray dark pulse destroys the ground that was previously beneath his rival's feet, only to find his trainer staring off into a different dimension. His growl snaps her back to attention.

"Sorry Mystic," She narrows her eyes at the comment, "No I can't just tell her. Legendary pokemon's business isn't mine to just divulge. I don't even know what they're talking about. A renegade, some empty sun, an alpha. The past. What do they want me to do. Why can't legendaries just tell things straight like normal pokemon?" Angel complains.

Diadem approaches her and nuzzles her face. A soft bark is emitted from his throat.

"I don't care if it's a test. If it's really that important why can't they just tell me…" Angel pauses to consider Destin's comment, "Perhaps you're right Destin. Maybe they can't tell me, or they're scared of something. That voice kind of reminded me of that recording. If that's what's threatening them I wouldn't blame them for being cryptic, but if that's what they're facing, is it what I'm expected to help them with too?" Angel asks worriedly as she buries her face in the ruff of the canine's neck.

Cynthia watches silently at the door. She's let out a frustrated sigh when she notices the tail end of her last sentence was the end of the conversation. The champion looks down at the absol.

"I'm sorry I wouldn't follow you Calamity."

The guardian let out a huff.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey everyone! Thanks for all the views and the reviews. Great news (I hope) I'm drawing the cover art for VoA. In reality is just Angel's character design, and I'm not sure how good it'll be because I'm using Bonnie as a reference, but we'll see how it turns out.**

Cynthia looks over her shoulder at the little girl still refusing to meet her eyes even though it had been over two hours. Having had enough of this awkward silence, she grabs the dusk ball out of her daughter's hands and holds it out of her reach above the younger's head when to attempts to jump to reclaim it.

"You're riding with me and Togekiss." She tells her before the champion climbs onto the avian, who bumps the child with a playful wing to remove the pouty expression painted on her face. The blonde wraps her arms around the child's waist and settles her in front of her body when Angel doesn't comply to orders.

"You could just tell me." The blonde reminds.

"..."

"It can't be that bad, right? It's not like you went around and joined one of those delusion teams that seem to pop up everywhere." Cynthia light humor falls flat when Angel continues to stare at the white feathers. The champion releases a disappointed sigh and remains quiet for the rest of the trip, distracting her troubled thoughts with the feeling of the wind on her face.

…

"Hello girls. Good to see you again." Carolina greets the duo and awkwardly clears her throat when she notices that the child is fiddling with the pokeballs at her waist instead of clutching the veteran trainer's legs as she normally would.

"Grandmother," Cynthia greets and throws a discreet glance at the child before sighing again. "I'll be back Grandmother. I have to make a call."

When the champion leaves, the professor approaches the glum girl and squats down to her eye level, "What's wrong with you two?" A thumb is jerked over her shoulder.

Angel fiddles with her fingers, "Have you ever had a secret you don't think you should tell because it could cause trouble for someone else?"

"Yes, I have, but have you ever considered Cynthia's worried? What happened?" The old lady presses.

"I did something without telling her and she's mad that I won't tell her where I went and what I did."

Carolina stands to soothe her clamping legs, "What's to say she's mad at you?"

"She said so! She said she's disappointed in me, but I have a good reason!" Angel insists as her eyes start to water as her emotions start to rise. The capsules on her waist begin to shake in response.

Carolina raises her brows in subtle surprise. The professor had believed that Cynthia couldn't so much as frown at this child, for her to actually express a negative emotion seemed almost impossible.

Angel goes to wipe away her tears with her sleeve and jerks up when Cynthia announces her return. The champion watches her in confusion when she runs into the building and widens her eyes when she notices the tears leaking from her violet orbs. The hand to her sleeve stops her chase after her.

"Grandmother!" Cynthia protests, but make no violent movement to shake off the grasp.

"Let me talk to you for a minute," Carolina waits a moment for her grandchild to stop fidgeting before continuing. "So will you tell me what happened that has that child not clinging to you like she's connected to you with a Sticky Web."

Cynthia fiddles with the ends of her hair, a nervous twitch she hadn't shown since adolescence, "She snuck out somewhere in the middle of the night and came back soaked to the bone. Tried to play it off as a bathroom break, but she was gone for over an hour, Grandmother."

"She's not a normal child. A legendary pokemon called to her. Who's to say she didn't have a good reason. Perhaps she was helping a pokemon."

"I overheard Angel saying that something is threatening someone and that she's expected to help. Who asks a child for help?" Cynthia voice raises an octave at the question.

"Someone who can't get help from anyone else. Perhaps it is a pokemon, perhaps another human, but if she's not telling you, it's for a reason. She told me it's something that could cause trouble for you and she doesn't want that."

Cynthia smiles fondly at that comment, "She worries too much."

"Yes, she does. She's worried that you're mad at her." Carolina reveals slowly.

The champion immediately stiffens and fists her hands at the comment, "I'm not mad I'm just worried!" She defends.

The champion relaxes when her elder raises a hand and crosses her arms to attempt to settle her emotions. Her fingers fiddle with her sleeves as she waits for the professor to continue.

"You didn't accidentally let anything slip did you?Anything that she could've taken the wrong way. Lord only knows what you and your sister used to fight about because one of you thought you heard the other say something." Carolina reminds as she turns to enter the building that Angel still hadn't come out of.

Cynthia decided not to answer the question in favor of searching for the small white haired child. Business appeared to be running normally. Scholars bustled around screens in the computer and analysis lab and random researchers pluck books off the many shelves.

"What are you doing here?" A screech erupts from the other side of the room and the duo's investigation reveals one of Carolina's newer assistants yelling at Angel, whom was hiding in a corner trying to escape the onslaught of words.

"Leave her alone Macy. She's welcome here." Carolina soothes and the young scholar pivots around to answer the voice.

"Professor! But, she was touching the mural."

"It's just a copy. Leave it be. Get back to work," The elder huffs and watches as the young lady scurries out.

Cynthia leans down and brings the child to her feet. Said child doesn't tear her gaze away from the framed picture. Taking note of her interest, the champion carries the girl over to the mural where Angel's small finger raises to the space above the glass and traces out the engravings.

"You might recognize that one there on the bottom left. That one's Mesprit. Those other two…"

Angel cuts off the professor, "Uxie and Azelf. Knowledge and willpower." She points to two of the smaller spheres encircling the golden core. "Palkia and Dialga. I've heard of them before." She divulges before her finger hesitates on the last sphere and falters. She tilts her head in confusion.

"What makes you think that?" Cynthia inquires as she focuses her attention onto the mural.

"Mesprit," The platinum replies as if it was the most obvious explanation in the world.

"Now this I have to tell the others," Carolina mutters before scurrying out of the room. Incoherent gibberish running from her lips that Angel couldn't comprehend.

Angel feels her body get placed on the ground and Cynthia's face fills her view, "Did I say something again? Grandmother said you thought I was mad at you." The champion's gray eyes follow the violet ones trying to look away and cage them with a look.

Angel let's out a mutter about a traitor before forcibly forcing her head away from Cynthia's piercing gaze. A finger under her chin forces her face up and a tender hand pushes the locks away from her face.

"Aren't you?" The meek voice questions.

"Heavens no! Why would you think that?"

"You said you were disappointed in me," The six year old murmurs, embarrassed.

"Oh Angel," The Celestic native let's out a slightly amused, mostly sympathetic laugh. "I'm not mad, Love. I'm worried. You go off and come back soaked when it's twenty degrees outside. I'm surprised you didn't return blue. I just wish you'd tell me. I can handle whatever's wrong. I can help you help this person."

Angel's eyes widen before they seem to slump with her shoulders, "The guardians have spoke to me of an incoming danger. Something is preparing and once it strikes… I-I don't know."

Cynthia rubs a soothing hand over the child's head as she buries her face into the champion's chest. Tears get absorbed by the fabric as Angel cries from the accumulating pressure forming on her shoulders.

"I'm sorry I wouldn't tell you. I'm scared of this thing, this renegade. It could hurt us, it could kill us and our pokemon, but I can't just let the guardians suffer through this alone."

"Of course not. And they won't suffer. If you say something's going to happen, I will believe you and I will help you."

The mother and daughter share a small smile.


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry about that guys! Not sure what happened. Uploaded from my kindle and the copy paste must've acted up. Thanks _zachlor16_ for telling me.**

Hanging lights illuminate the passage crowded with scholars and archaeologist examining the newfound ruins deep in the heart of the Celestic Ruins. Carvings and paintings adorn the walls and soft, bristled brushes slowly clean away the dusty debris. Angel grasps her foster parent's hand tightly, not willing to wander off and get lost in this endless caverns, but stretches her neck to catch glimpses of the images through the larger adults blocking her view. Her eyes widen in surprise when an arm wraps around her waist and she's raised up to a vantage point that allows the chaos to be viewed with ease.

The glowing eyes shine even brighter when she catches sight of where they were headed. She attempts to climb higher and ignores the blonde's grunts of protest as little limbs climb to rest on her shoulders.

"Angel, you could've just asked and I would've held you higher."

"Sorry, Mama." The platinum apologizes as she feels the adult mover her hands to grasps the bottom of her legs to keep the child from falling off.

"Angel, come look at this. Tell me what you think." Carolina demands as she waves the two of them over.

The child raises a hand in the air to outline the colossal painting. The pale finger outlining a insect like snake, its six legs, and phantasmical neck tendrils. Two beastly creatures, one standing on two large legs and the other a quadruped grounded on four pillar-like limbs, stand stoically before it with gaping mouths. Two against one by the way the first snake seemed to be backed into a corner and how it fanned out its neck adornments. She leans down against Cynthia as she skirts away from the drawing as uncertainty seeps through her veins.

"What do you think, Angel?" The twenty-eight year old melodious voice filters through her ears, but it does little to soothe her.

"Who is that?" The child asks the professor as she squirms off the champion's shoulders, much to said adult's displeasure.

Cynthia grunts and moves to dislodge the child from her mount on her shoulders. Her gray eyes glaze over in confusion when the child cowers behind her leg and ducks under her coat as if the creature would spring off the wall and at her.

"What's wrong? I thought you love this stuff. You've been having me tell you the myths before you sleep for weeks now," Cynthia asks when the small, violet eyes duck around her pant's leg to sneak a look at the mural with a morbid fascination.

"It can be frightening to a young child, Cynthia," Carolina explains as she turns back to the cave painting. "Fear not, young one. This is simply a legend. It's not known for certain if this pokemon even exists, but ancient writings have revealed that they had called this pokemon Giratina. According to legend it was banished for its violence to another world, but it is simply a legend young one. No evidence that it actually exists has shown itself, and no orb has been discovered. Mesprit hasn't told you of it. So, you don't have to worry."

The child doesn't seem reassured and retaliates when Cynthia pushes her forward toward the rock wall. The young child's feet dig into the ground as she is inched closer to the stone.

"No. I don't… Cynthia quit it!" Angel screeches and her cheeks flush when the inhabitants turn to look at her outburst.

The champion immediately releases her grip and the inhabitants of the cavern turn to watch as she backs into the opposite wall. The black capsule on her waist bursts open and the concerned pokemon nuzzles the trainer and gives out a small whine. A shaky finger points toward the mural and the disaster pokemon casts a glance at the wall. It's a sparing glance, she barely takes the time to recognize the picture before growling menacingly at it and turning around and brushing her horn at her young master to guide her toward the entrance.

Cynthia watches, but doesn't do anything until she notices the child and pokemon stop their walking and sees both their eyes glaze over. Calamity's clears first and the harsh horn to the girl's stomach forces her onto her back before jolting for the entrance.

"You might want to run," Angel warns from her sack-of-potatoes stance as the confused relatives start to become smaller and smaller.

Cynthia and Carolina look at each other and turn toward the area that delves deeper into the ruins as a whispering screech begins to echo off the walls. Hordes of blue pokemon with purple accents swarm through the opening the new ruin exploration had created. Surprised yells resonate off the walls as archeologist cover their heads to protect themselves from the incoming golbat and zubat.

"Everyone, get out of here! Leave your equipment, we'll get it later." Carolina orders as the chaos around her begins to swell and people in lab coats rush toward the exit.

Garchomp's glowing claws disrupts the horde and creates a slight passageway for the two women. Even with the dragon's wings creating a barrier, membranes of wings occasionally slapped against the backs of the two humans as they rushed into the light and into the horde of people waiting anxiously at the entrance as they watched in peculiar fascination as the mass of poison type pokemon fled the cave.

Cynthia returns Garchomp's ball to its spot before she fixes her jacket and casts wary glances at the cave opening, trying to think up a reason that explains pokemon sudden departure from their cavern. It isn't like like it's the most uncommon thing. Zubat and its family were prone to fleeing due to multiple reasons, whether it be because of loud noise, vibrations, or an immense amount of light flooding the habitat.

"The lights may have bothered them, or maybe when the drilling to get through the wall." Carolina hypothesizes as the swarm disperses into the late morning sky. "I'm surprised that they didn't leave earlier."

The champion immediately straightens when she remembers that Angel wasn't by her side and panics when the glaring hair isn't spotted amongst the other twitching spectators.

"Angel?" She calls out as she starts spinning in her area.

"Miss, she's over there," One of the young lab assistant informs as he pushes up his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one hand and points with the other.

The pale child had moved to a normal riding position on the absol like how one would ride a skiddo; an abnormal feat if it wasn't for the child's puny three feet five inches. A blue companion clutched her raised arm and the rapid movements of its mouth indicate an elusive conversation. The bat thing twitches before zooming off. The disaster pokemon's red scythe moves when the absol shakes her head before the red angel bounds across the little shadow beside the cave. The platinum child side jumps off the wolf-like pokemon and slams into her guardian. Frantic hands push against the champion's legs.

"What are you doing," Cynthia's light, amused voice asks as she tries to divert the hands off her legs.

"Run," Angel states seriously.

"What?" The blonde asks again, her entertained tint wearing off.

"Run." Angel repeats once more, slower and more deliberate.

"Why? All the zubat have…"

"We don't have time for questions run!" The violet eyes widen before a hand motion is made and she jumps away from the adult.

The shiny pokemon is enveloped in power as it roars and the towering, blue teeth erupt from the ground, barely missing the scientist at the front of the horde.

"Angel! Why are you attacking…" The professor's words are drowned out as a loud boom erupts from the cavern and dust clouds accompany the falling debris.

"Angel...Angel?!" Cynthia chokes out between lungfuls of dust, her arm raised to her face as if it would help filter the air.

A stressed cry roars from within the cloud as the rock barrier dissipates into thin air. The champion ignores her grandmother's assistants warnings as she runs head first into the settling dirt. She rushes forward and catches the falling girl. The little girl is held to her chest and Cynthia uses her coat to cover the bruised and cut skin damaged from the shattered rock. She stands up and feels the child tighten her grip slightly to remain in the champion's firm embrace. A reassuring hand assists the cough caught in her throat. The trapped air sputters out of her mouth. Calamity hops nervously alongside Cynthia as she runs back toward the research center. Carolina joins her frenzied movements.

"Why did she do that?" The blonde mumbles to herself. "Grandmother, get a doctor as fast as you can and for Arceus sake get Jenny on the phone."


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone! I'm really sorry about what happened last time. I tried a new way of posting a document and it obviously went wrong. Thanks for pointing it out and it is fixed (I'm pretty sure). To make up for it I have been writing non-stop and I have the next three days of from school to write and post. I will try to update a little more frequently.**

Angel's violet eyes wince as Cynthia's nimble fingers run the antiseptic drenched cotton ball over the shallow cuts on her face. Her fingers twitch and tighten their grip on the comforter she's sitting on as the yellow stained cotton wiped away the dried blood around the scratch marks. The champion's iron grip on her chin was the only reason the child hadn't jerked her head away; that and the guilt darkening her gray eyes to that of storm clouds.

"I should've known that those zubat meant something. We've been bombed before but for you to take the hit." The mother's voice trails off as the words thicken.

"I'm fine, Mama." Angel insists and she giggles quietly when Cynthia's feathered touch tickles her cheeks.

The champion doesn't respond and throws the cotton piece away. A saliva covered finger pushes her bangs away from the child's face and Angel pushes back against the bed in the duo's room in disgust.

"Gross Mama," The aggravated child rolls her eyes and crinkles her nose at Cynthia's doting. She pushes the adult's hands away from her bandaged arms and her cheeks puff at the chuckling pokemon mocking her in the corner of the small room. The platinum lunges off her perch and tackles the champion onto the wooden floor.

"It's not your fault. The zubat told me it was going to blow. Why do you think I had Calamity set up the Stone Edge. It's just a few scratches and some nasty bruises. It was much worse when I fell down that rocky cliff area near Ambrette! Now that was a painful crash! Luckily, I wasn't on the actual cliff part."

The statement didn't make the foster parent feel any better, if anything it just made her want to clutch the little girl closer to her and tether the platinum to her side.

"You almost fell..off of a cliff…"

A cheeky smile is her answer as Angel rolls her body off the woman before using the older's stomach as a head cushion and gazing up at the blonde with a content smile and large eyes. She buries her face into her substitute pillow. The champion's arm wraps around her back and her fingers fiddle through the soft locks.

After a few minutes of serenity Angel disrupts the peace, "Mama? I'm hungry."

A guffaw puffs out the adult's chest, "Alright, let's eat."

…

Angel casts a look at her distracted guardian before slipping the daikon under the table and into the awaiting goomy's mouth. She stuffs a piece of the rice ball into her own when the champion turns to casts a suspicious glance at her before returning her attention to the blue haired officer questioning her. Another piece of the root is dropped and swallowed by the eager pokemon before Angel hastily slams her hands onto the table and clutches her fork to stab at her food to make it look like she was eating as the two women approached the small table she was sitting at. Calamity raises a cautious head from her curled position around her mistress' feet and calculating green eyes watch the approaching officer. Jenny's growlithe lets out a growl at the intimidating pokemon and Calamity replies by standing up and staring down at the smaller canine. Her teeth flashed as the fire type started barking madly.

"Calamity lay off will you?"

The red pokemon stops the growls emitting from her chest and relaxed her stance. One last glare is casts towards the growlithe before she returns to the child's side.

"Pardon Calamity, Growlithe. She's being over protective."

The red pokemon huffs and shrinks back as the goomy and absol glare at it for its rude comment.

"Growlithe get back over here!" Jenny commands before sitting opposite of Angel.

Angel is lifted into the air so Cynthia can take the seat she had occupied and placed on the champion's lap. The grown up's arms wrap around her waist and Angel continues to nibble at her food.

"Pardon my growlithe. It is new to the task force."

"It's fine," She mumbles quietly before turning away from the policewoman and tilting her body inwards toward Cynthia.

Jenny purses her lips awkwardly and gives Cynthia a short, questioning look. The blonde just smiles and nudges the top of Angel's head with her shoulder to make the child face forward.

"We just want to ask a few questions Angel. So we can figure out what's going on. Okay?"

The platinum remains silent, but nods her understanding.

"Okay! So, how did you know the ruins were about to be attacked?" Jenny asked, hand poised over a clean sheet of paper.

"The zubat told me." Angel answers as she fiddles with Cynthia's long strands.

"The zu...bat. Excuse me?"

"That's right, the zubat told me."

"This is no time for joking kid. People could've been and still can get hurt. Your jokes aren't appreciated." The bluenette stern voice hisses and causes Angel to turn away and clutch the champion's jacket tighter.

"Please watch your tone with my great-granddaughter. She's very shaken you see, and is still adjusting to life here." Carolina warns as she enters the room with her hands held behind her back.

"Pardon me, Professor, but you can't expect me to believe…"

"Now why would Angel desire to lie." Carolina cuts off as she pulls out a folded sheet of paper and unclips a pen off her coat jacket. "Here Angel, why don't you go draw and I'll handle this."

The little girl nods and releases a relieved sigh before sliding out of the champions arm. She tugs Cynthia's sleeve and whispers a question in her ear before pulling back and gazing up with baby doll eyes. The blonde pulls Garchomp's pokeball out of her jacket and places it into the child's awaiting hands.

"Thank you, Mama."

"Anything for you, Love."

Angel scampers off, clutching the pokeball to her chest. Calamity follows close behind, Destin stuck to her back. Carolina turns back to Officer Jenny.

"Let's put your disbelief aside for the moment, Officer, and focus on what my assistants just informed me. A few of my assistants and your officers have scanned the deeper sections of the ruin and have found the site where the bombs were placed. They discovered a symbol on the remain of one of the explosives."

"And what symbol was that?"

"A G. Looks like the Team Galactic rumors are true. Those lunatics are plotting again."

Cynthia releases a heavy sigh before going off to find Garchomp, Angel, and Calamity. A quick sweep of the area makes her purse her lips in consideration when she can't find the trio. She stands from the seat and takes Angel's abandoned plate to bring to the kitchen. She leans down to pick up the stub of daikon Destin had left behind and drops the piece onto the plate. The plate is discarded on the open window that allow viewing of the kitchen before she exits the cafeteria.

The large purple dragon lumbering down the hall towards her makes the adult stop her walk and wait for her partner to approach her. The garchomp nuzzles her and its exhalation shuffles her blonde hair.

"Hello Garchomp. Where's Angel."

The dragon points toward the door leading outside and leads her trainer to the child. As the automatic doors hiss open the little girl is revealed. She is leaning against Diadem and staring at the demolished columns and rock walls. Her absol stands at her other side and huffs at her.

"I know Calamity. Let's go Diadem." Calamity is absorbed into her pokeball and placed back on her belt.

"And where are you going?" Cynthia asks and the girl jumps as she turns around.

"I want some fresh air. I'm not going far Mama, the mountain area next to town."

Cynthia raises a questioning brow and raises a hand to Garchomp's side, "I can join you."

"I-I'd rather go alone…" Angel mutters as she mounts her pokemon. Her small hand raises to rub her temple as she attempts to ebb the incoming headache.

The champion doesn't stop her, but clutches her keystone tightly as she watches the departure. The rushed footsteps behind her makes her turn around at the frantic assistant catching her breath behind her.

"Miss Cynthia! Please, at the laboratory! Team Galactic has broken in, and they're after the orbs!"

…

Angel settles herself on a rocky ledge that overlooks the small town. Her feet swing over the cutoff and Calamity settles beside her. Destin cowers slightly at the height on top of the child's head, its squishy body flattening against his master as he makes sure he won't fall off the face of oblivion. Diadem works as a personal heater against the mountain chill on Angel's other side and Mystic hovers above her should she fall off the ledge. The child pulls her legs up and lays against Diadem, her violet eyes disappear behind pale eyelids as she prepares her meeting with the legendary.

 _Angel opens her eyes to the pink fog cloud around her. She feels her feet touch some sort of solid and her arms uncurl and rest at her sides. She turns to face the three pokemon to her side._

" _Lake guardians."_

" _Hatchling," The trio responds in syncretism before flying over to surround her._

" _That was Team Galactic wasn't it. I know the orbs are at the lab. Why have a conversation with me now instead of letting me help Mama protect the orbs. We could prevent this." Angel insists at the circling pokemon._

" _That would only suspend the inevitable hatchling. This future would still occur. Team Galactic will create a rift. However, the ending is dependant on you. The renegade is almost ready to strike. A hollow sun the catalyst. The only emotion present is a cold anger, don't let it corrupt you." Uxie warns before the three start flickering out of existence._

" _Hey! Don't leave yet!"_

 _Mesprit remains a moment longer as her brothers disappear, "Don't give up on us hatchling."_

 _The pink pokemon disappears, leaving Angel alone in her dreamscape._


	19. Chapter 19

**This story has officially reached over 2,500 views! (Party cannon sounds) Thanks for the support and feel free to drop a review; it inspires me to write quicker.**

Cynthia's garchomp releases a plume of fire from her mouth. The roaring flame colliding and burning the horde of Galactic golbat in its wake. They screech in pain as they are pushed back through the ceiling. Large, blue balls of aura erupt for Lucario's paws and barrel into the bronzor emitting pink hypnotic waves. The disc shaped pokemon leave an indent in the wall behind them with a thud. Cynthia grinds her teeth together as she throws another hand out and Garchomp redirects her fury onto the toxicroak chortling in front of his blue haired trainer. Saturn lets a sly smile cross his face as he tightens his grip on the pearl like orb in one arm. One of his co-admins holds the Adamant orb in her arms as her skuntank floods the room with a horrid stench.

Officer Jenny motions pokemonless civilians out of the room and her squadron yells out attacks to hold off the armada of zubat, glameow, croagunk, and skunky. A machoke grabs Mars' purugly by the ruff and Circle Throws it across the room where it lands smugly on its four small paws. An arcanine and a few growlithe fire Embers and Fire Blasts at the golbats covering the other half of the ceiling that Garchomp hadn't already demolished. The Smog the skuntank had released reaches the champion and her pokemon.

Garchomp gags and coughs while her claws attempt to clear the air. Lucario holds a paw to his snout. Their mistress coughs against the black gas choking her trachea. She clutches her keystone and mumbles an apology to Angel.

"Sorry, Love. I know you told me to wait, but I don't have time for caution. Garchomp, mega evolve!"

The purple pokemon roars and arches its back as a multi-colored aura spreads from its neck where its mega stone was located and the outline of growing limbs glowed through the black fog. Red scythe like features adorn her arm dorsals that were never there before. Her head was also more blocky and her chest coloring was lined with white razor points. Power emitted from the dragon in waves before it opens a gaping mouth and released a hyper beam. The ray pierces the darkness like a bullet, explodes and clears the haze that surrounds the champion. The admins had disappeared in the darkness and all that remains is a destroyed lab.

Cynthia clenches a fist and strikes the air before taking a calming breath. Her garchomp lets out an enraged roar as it reverts back to its regular form and Lucario stares at the hole in the ceiling the golbat had caused.

"Dang it! They got away," Jenny exclaimed as she asses the damage.

Police officers examine their pokemon. Some don't even bother to return them to their capsules and instead pick them up in their arms to run them to the center.

Cynthia's own pokemon sport a few scuff marks. Nothing substantial, but enough to need that potion hidden away in her bag in her room. Lucario and Garchomp rush to her side to calculate the damage done to their trainer.

"Cynthia?! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Grandmother," Cynthia replies curtly, "But they got away. Da-"

"Language Cynthia. I hope you don't let those word slip around Angel."

The name makes the champion pause, "Where were they going?"

"They escaped toward Mount Cornet," Carolina notices the paleing features of the twenty-eight year old. "What?"

"Angel on Route 211."

…

Angel's violet orbs squint open when a cracking stick sounds off in the background. The rest of her sleeping pokemon lift their heads drowsily and glance around. Three explosions suddenly blow Diadem, Mystic, and Calamity back and into the tree trunks behind her. A horde of golbat descend onto the three and begin letting out a barrage of Supersonic and Wing Attack.

"Calamity, Mystic, Diadem! What the…"

"You're that little runt that was clutching that blonde bombshell of a champion," Mars snickers as her purugly advances on the child, claws glowing as it prepares a Fury Swipes. "Might as well take care of you now."

Angel raises both arms to protect her face, but lowers them when she feels Destin leap off her head and plant itself firmly in front of its trainer to absorb the incoming claws. As the large feline backs off to charge up another move the bruised slime ball shakes in pain.

"Destin…" Angel whispers, too shocked to move and protect the weak pokemon.

"It must be dumber than it looks if it thinks it can take on my Purugly. Demolish it Purugly, Body Slam!"

The fat cat somehow manages to leap into the air and spreads its large mass to crush the goomy. Its satisfied smirk dissipates and it hurriedly tries to move when a large white beam explouds from the dragon type. A white glow surrounds the pokemon as it grows taller. A snail like appearance is formed before the light disperses to reveal the newly evolved sliggoo. The Bide propels the purugly into a nearby tree and, as it slides down the rough bark, it was revealed to be a K'O.

"Purugly!" A red beam encases the fainted pokemon, "Why you little brat!" She grabs for the other pokeball at her hip when a static is heard over her ear piece. "Huh? Understood." Mars looks back at the trainer and her glaring sliggoo. "You got lucky this time runt."

The sound of a propeller roars overhead as a Galactic helicopter edges overhead. The door is opened and a grunt drops a ladder down. The admin returns her poison type to its ball before grabbing the sides of the ladder.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll butt out. Team Galactic could eat you alive." Mars warns as she ascends the ladder and disappears into the giant machine.

The two watch it disperse into the expanse of sky and treetops before rushing to their fallen teammates. Mystic and Diadem kept snapping at each other as they just succeeded in getting themselves further stuck under the fallen tree trunks. Leaving them to bicker, Angel and Destin roll the logs off Calamity first. The red pokemon howled in pain as her back muscles contract as she crawled out. Angel runs her fingers over the muscles in a quick examination before moving on to the two larger pokemon.

"Destin, see if you can use Dragon Breath."

The purple pokemon nods and light blue waves swirl around the snail before they concentrate into a beam that is flung at the trees. The crack of breaking wood echoes through the silence as the trunks heave to the power and the two large pokemon force their way out of their cages.

"Is everyone okay?"

The four nod but Angel notices how Diadem favors its right front paw and how Mystic rests on the ground instead of hovering in the air. She sighs at the thought of the long walk and withdraws three pokeballs off her waist.

"Alright you three, in you go before you get hurt worse." Red light transform the injured pokemon and absorbs them back into their capsules. She looks back down at Destin. "Just us for now." Angel leans down to pet the sliggoo. "But I know you'll protect me."

…

Togekiss and Garchomp swirl over the rocky area before Mount Cornet looking for any white or red. Togekiss ruffles her feathers anxiously as she dives closer to the treetops to get a closer look. Garchomp lets out an angry huff, the steam exploding from her nostrils and the tendrils frame her face. Her eyes spark in anxiety.

Cynthia didn't fare much better. Her hair and clothes were disheveled from her constant fiddling as she tried to distract her hands from choking the next person who tells her to relax.

"Why do we seem to lose this child all the time?" Carolina asks no one in particular as the remainder officers of Celestic's police department not at the PokeCenter, scan the area with their partners and flashlights for when the setting sun finally succumbs and sets below the horizon.

"Grandmother, you are not reassuring me by saying that I lose my child habitually." The champion's nerve frazzles her features even more. Her slate eyes widen and her fingers tug at each other as her breathing accelerates at the thought of Angel injured somewhere. Lucario radiates aura from his paws as he attempt to soothe his trainer's high strung emotions. Once Cynthia's breathing had returned to normal he closes his eyes in concentration.

"Lucario, was that you?" Angel appears from the shadows of the tree line and ignores the woman tackling her in a hug as she listens to the bi-pedal's reply. "Thank you, we were wandering in circles and the rest of my gang need medical attention."

"Are you okay?" Carolina asks as Angel squirms out of her granddaughters iron cage.

"I'm fine, but some weird redhead in some space outfit attacked us and injured Calamity, Mystic, and Diadem. Destin evolved though, isn't that cool?"

The sliggoo sliding around on her head leans forward and cooed at the blonde champion, who blinks at it before giving it a pat.

"They got the orbs didn't they. Mesprit said they would." Angel asks as she stumbles over Cynthia's arms and get attacked by the noses of the two flying pokemon that had grounded next to her.

"Yes, they got away despite our efforts." Cynthia confirms as she stands next to Garchomp.

"We should've enhanced the security the moment we heard the rumors. Now they have the orbs." Carolina sighs as she readjusts her lab coat.

"It's my fault as well, Grandmother. Looker had informed me that Team Galactic was running around again, but I underestimated their strength since Cyrus disappeared into that other dimension. I failed as champion and now Sinnoh's possibly in danger."

"Doesn't matter Mama," The guilt-ridden champion turns to her daughter, "Uxie told me that it wouldn't matter. They would've eventually gotten hold of the orbs and they will eventually open that dimension. We can't stop it from happening, but…"

Carolina cuts the child off with a head shake, "Nonsense child. We will stop this as we have done before." She turns to Cynthia, "You should get some dinner and relax for the night. I will call Rowan and have him set up extra security at the lakes. They'll be heading there next."

…

Angel's body is prevented of sitting up by Cynthia's gentle hands as the blonde guides the child into a sleeping position on the bed in Cynthia's childhood home. The blanket is pulled up to her chin and tucked under her body.

"Mama, why can't I come to the meeting?" She asks as she lifts her head off the pillow and tightens her grip on the smaller cushiom she was using as a cuddle buddy.

"This is a grown-up thing, Love. It'll just confuse you and it'll probably just end up in us arguing over how to handle this." Cynthia confesses wryly before she places a kiss on Angel's forehead.

"But…" The platinum protests as the blonde moves away from the bed

"Sleep Angel. We'll handle this." The champion reassures as she pushes Angel's glass of water out of falling distance from its place on the night table. She pets Angel's treated pokemon on her way out of the room and grabs her own pokeballs from their spot on the dresser.

"Goodnight Angel."

"Night Mama."

The darkness pervades as Cynthia turns the light off and closes the door. Angel hears Calamity rise from the floor and feels the bed shift as the absol curls up beside her. Her body heat warms the child as the violet eyes begin to droop.


	20. Chapter 20

**Shout out to _KnightsKing._ Thanks for the review! It's much appreciated. Meant to update earlier, but my electronics hate me and need a day to fix themselves.**

 _All Angel could see was destruction. Remaintants of broken boulders and the fragments of a pillar of some sort hung suspended in the dark blue-purple area. The child wasn't sure which way was up and which was down. There was no geographical features spare a few boulders, pits, and the bunches of scraggy, black trees protruding from the red colored rubble she guessed was this dimension's version of soil. Her violet eyes spare a glance over the edge of the platform she was on and Angl reels back when she spots a never ending swirling vortex._

 _A shadow passes overhead and disrupts the little light illuminating the dark scenery. She feels a presence and faces forward. Her neck slowly cranes up to face the serpentine monster and feels its hot breath fan her face. Its six appendages flare scarlet from round its neck and its mouth seeps out crystalized air. Words, ancient and hideous, starts to form._

 _"Iahh khhll hoo…"_

Angel hits the floor with a thump and the four pokemon jump at the noise. Calamity looks over the bed, her green eyes wide with concern, and bumps her trainer with a horn.

Angel pushes her sweaty hair away from her face and runs to the bedroom door. A quick glance at the clock shows it is a quarter to midnight. Her chest still pants erratically as she fumbles with the doorknob. She stumbles across the threshold and squints as the hall lights burn her corniea.

Garchomp stomps out into the hallway and examines the hall for the noise she had heard fumbling around. She stares in confusion at the child tripping over her feet toward the dagon, jabbering nonsense of jumbled and broken words. Slightly concerned with the child's paler than normal features she uses a wing to herd her toward the room while she continued to mumble out gibberish.

"Garchomp? Angel?! What are you doing up?" Cynthia asks as she rises from the couch she was sharing with Carolina. She leans down and gathers the child in her arm. The champion sits back down on the couch and begins to rub the little girl's back when she notices Angel is shaking in her arms.

"Shh, little one, you're okay. What's wrong, Love."

"That thing was in my dream. That serpent dragon. Its dimension's barren, distorted. What if that happens." Angel's breathing accelerates again at the memory.

"It's okay Angel. They won't get that far. We'll fix it." Cynthia reassures.

"But what if you can't. Uxie said that the rift will occur no matter…"

"Stop it Angel." Cynthia demands sternly, "No more of this mumbling about what the lake guardians have told you. I understand you want to help them, but we are finding it hard to believe that they would drag a child into this."

"But…you said you'd believe me."

Cynthia doesn't respond. Angel is placed on the ground as Cynthia stands and the violet eyes notice that Officer Jenny, Carolina, and a few others were watching them intently.

"I must admit that I believe you may have been approached my Mesprit, but this has happened before. I'm not sure why Azelf and Uxie would choose the same child to protect the region. It is getting dangerous and Team Galactic isn't a place where a child should play. I'm sending you back to the League until this blows over."

"What?!" Angel exclaims as she stares up at her in disbelief. "You can't do that! I promised to help them!"

"They are legendary pokemon who can take care of themselves. You are a child who is an amature in the art of battling. Even if your pokemon are strong it won't matter. It's not safe. You are going back."

"No, I'm not! I made a promise to Mesprit, and if Daddy taught me anything it's to keep a promise and help pokemon who need it. You can't control me Cynthia! It doesn't matter what you think, me and my pokemon are strong enough." Angel screeches.

The words whiz through the air before they dig into the blonde's chest, aiming for her heart. The champion clenches her muscles, tethering her arms to her side as she watches the platinum shove past the large beast trying to gently block her path and pivots around the corner to the hall.

The slate eyes downcast and Garchomp bumps Cynthia's arm in reassurance.

"I know you didn't want to do that Cynthia, but it's for the best. It would be unacceptable to let that little girl get hurt in a matter to big for her," Jenny insists as she and her partners begin to rise to leave the room.

Cynthia nods curtly and lets her silence be her answer. She purses her lips as she watches them leave through the open doorway. The champion ignores the condolences of her elder and maturely strides out of the room. Her coat tickles her skin as it shifts with her body and her vision is obscured by her blonde hair as she accelerates her speed. She storms through the hallway, Garchomp lumbering beside her, and forces her eyes forward when she passes Angel's room. The bitter air lashes against her face, its pins piercing her skin as she steps out into the dark.

Her slim hands grasps the pokeballs inside of her jacket. The orbs enlarge as they are tossed into the air and the five other pokemon are released. Togekiss tiredly and slowly blinks. Lucario stand stoically, but casts a slight glance behind him toward the house. Milotic coils herself inward to preserve space and her body shivers to generate heat. Spiritomb's phantasm head circle twists and bends around its center to look for Angel. The spirit droops when she doesn't find her. Roserade crosses her arms.

"Late night training. We need to be prepared for when Team Galactic attacks the lake guardians."

The six nod.

…

Angel watches as the veteran and her masterfully trained pokemon, her powerful weapons that can easily take down anyone who opposed her, but are instead treated as faithful companions, silently enter the shadows. Most likely off to the forest to destroy a section of innocent trees and boulders.

The platinum child motions for her pokemon to be quiet with a finger to her lips. She grabs her travel bag and throws it over her newly changed clothes. Her belt is fastened around her waist and she returns her pokemon, bar Calamity, into their traveling carriers. Calamity watches motionless as her trainer gathers her belongings and opens her window before making a barely audible bark of protest.

"I don't want to leave either Calamity, but if Cynthia is going to get rid of us then we don't really have a choice. I made a promise and I am going to keep it," Angel states defiantly.

She climbs out the window and waits for the absol to scramble out of the window frame. The duo stares at the building before glancing at the direction where the champion had walked off. Angel hitches her bag up onto her shoulder and lowers her body to prevent being spotted. The two slink along the walls of building and crawl around the areas that street lights illuminated in the street. Diadem is called out when the foggy breath of Route 210 blinds the child. The arcanine boils flames in his mouth to create some light against the soupy darkness. Angel mounts the canine and Calamity trots along beside them through the silence. Diadem turns his head to look over his shoulder when he feels moisture hit his fur. His dark eyes witness the little rivulets of water streaming down her face and the silent hiccups become more pronounced as the tears begin to swell.

Calamity whines at Angel's distress and Diadem picks up speed as their master begins bawling her eyes out. Her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on Diadem's ruff, the fur straining against the skin in her forceful grasp. The girl's back hills as she sobs and chokes over her own breath. Desperate to calm his master, Diadem raises to a sprint, attempting to put as much distance between the child and her pseudo mother.


	21. Chapter 21

**Over 3,000 views! Keep them coming! Feel free to review; who knows maybe I'll update two chapters instead of leaving a cliff hanger in the possible future.**

Cynthia hesitates at the door the following morning. Her quivering fist hovers over the wood before she draws it back to her side and worries her lip. Steeling her nerves she grasps the handle and shoves the door open. The wood hits the wall with a thunderous bang as it is throws inward.

"I know you don't want to… Love? Angel?" Cynthia swirls in the center of the barren room.

Cynthia first notices that the bed is neatly made, the sheets pulled to the top and wrinkles smoothed out of the fabric. The champion fumbles open the dresser drawer to discover the child's clothing missing, and a further examination shows that all of her hygiene items and personal ones are too.

Cynthia rushes out of the room. She doesn't bother trying to keep up her collected facade as she burst through the house's door and bee lines for the research center. People watch curiously as she tears through the streets, little dust clouds fail to keep up and are left behind in the blonde's wake. A few police officers attempt to ask her what's wrong, concerned that Team Galactic had attacked under the cover of night, but by the time the words leave their mouths Cynthia had long since past.

The research center's automatic doors aren't quick enough to make way for the adult. Her shoulder collides with the widening jaws and a numbing throb pulsates as the champion breaks to a halt in the building's cafeteria.

"What's your problem?" Carolina asks as she sits at one of the tables and unravels her silverware. The light glints off the handle of the fork as it is stabbed into the food.

"Angel's gone."

"So? She's probably off running through the forest on her arcanine. If you haven't noticed, Angel is a bit of a free spirit."

"No Grandmother," Cynthia corrects, "She's gone. All her items are missing, her bag's disappeared, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of her and her pokemon. I-I think I ran her off." She stutters.

"Nonsense. Angel adores you. She wouldn't run away due to some little argument. You'll see. If she's not back by dinner, then we can panic."

…

Cynthia was mentally hyperventilating. The clock currently read eight thirty; two hours past the champion's and Angel's average dinner time, and no one had caught a glimpse of the elusive child. Togekiss and Garchomp soar along with the police station's staravia and staraptor while Lucario and Spiritomb searched the small town's hidden crevices. Growlithes walked the streets with noses to the ground trying to pick up a scent trail, but the lead went all over the place due to the child's scatterbrained exploration the previous day. Cynthia could feel her hair turning gray already.

"We're doing everything we can, Cynthia, but she doesn't seem to be here. I just got word from one of my officers that her most recent trail heads to Route 210, but it's over twelve hours old. She has a flying pokemon. That child could be anywhere by now. We can put an alert on the news, but I have a feeling that if she doesn't want to be caught then she won't be." Jenny informs as she holds her phone up, ready to call Jubilife T.V and have the missing child alert broadcasted.

The blonde nods numbly and motions her pokemon back to the ground with a wave of her hand. Togekiss chirps sadly next to her and Garchomp roars as she lands with a thump on the ground. A calming palm is placed on both of them to soothe their disappointment, but the feeling of failure still radiates from the four pokemon as they return to Cynthia's side and see her conflicted eyes.

"Good job guys. I'm going to call Professor Rowan and Looker, maybe they'll find her before I do."

The video chat digital tone vibrates through the Pokemon Lab. Professor Rowan turns to it and motions his assistants to put the gible back in the enclosure. One lifts the small dragon off the table and another throws pieces of pokemon food into its gaping mouth. As Angel had said, all it needed was time.

The professor clicks the answer button and finds himself pleasantly surprised to see the veteran trainer on the other line.

"Afternoon, Cynthia. Do you need something?" His baritone voice grumbles.

"Yes, I'm sure Jenny has informed you of Team Galactic?" Rowan nods, "Angel was pretty set on helping out."

The old professor huffs at the light phrasing, "I hypothesize she wanted to do more than just help out. She's a doer that one."

Cynthia awkwardly clears her throat, "Yes, well, I told her no and, and she ran off." The blonde shies away from the raised eyebrows and looks away from the camera, flashbacks of when she was a new trainer and the look Rowan would give her when he knew she goofed. "We can't find her anywhere and police have been searching the town and the surrounding area for the past two hours. I was hoping that you and your team could keep an eye open for her at the lakes. I feel that if she's going to head anywhere, it'd be there where she could meet the lake guardians."

Rowan nods and fixes his tie with a large hand, "Yes, we'll do that. As for you, check Lake Valor. It is the only lake she hasn't been to yes?"

"Thank you Professor. Can I ask of you a favor and have you inform Looker? I want to the call the Elite Four."

"Will do… Don't worry yourself Cynthia, she'll be fine."

Cynthia doesn't make a sound, but nods and cancels the conversation before tapping in the League's number into the keypad. Lucian's lilac tinted hair fills the screen and blocks the destruction the other males of the Four were creating.

"Cynthia," The gentleman pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Didn't think we'd hear from you. We heard about the ruins, is everyone alright."

The champion nods, but her quivering mouth makes Lucian readjust his glasses as if his vision was further failing him. "Cynthia are you alright?"

The man-children in the background halt their movements and crowd around the camera.

"Hey, you do look like you got scorched. What's up Champ?"

"You okay Cynthia?"

The blonde follows the lump in her throat, "Angel's run away."

Flint bursts into laughter, "Hey, that's a good one Boss! You know I never thought you were a prankster! Ow! Aaron!"

"She's not kidding flame brain!" The bug master hisses as he clunks the man upside the head with his open palm.

"Ignore Flint's idiotic behaviour," Lucian advises, "You told her that you were going to handle it and bring her back here for safety precaution. She said no, yelled at you, and left before you could say anything." He smiles at her stupefied expression. "You two are open books around each other and, if there is one thing I'm a master at, it's reading books."

"Yes, that is the situation. I hate to ask this of you all but…"

"No problem Cynthia. We'll find the kid. I'll message Bertha, she's in Oreburgh and can look around there. Flint and I will cover Canalave and the bigger cities. With all five of us we'll find her."

Cynthia smiles shakily in return and glances at the clock. Eleven thirty.

"Eat something and go to sleep. The whole region will be looking by afternoon tomorrow once they broadcast it."


	22. Chapter 22

**Sorry, had to reupload. For some reason it post all the coding but doesn't show up on my screen when I don't update from my phone, but only sometimes. Go figure... Thanks _Zachlor16_ for telling me and thanks _KnightsKings and Kurakuma_ for reviewing.**

Angel stares at the television inside the small cottage outside Eterna Forest. Her green haired host places a cup of tea in front of her and sits on the small recliner next to the sofa. Calamity lifts her head from her paws to watch the anchorwoman talk.

"It has been three days since Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia, has revealed she has taken in a foster child. It has also been three days since said child has gone missing. The little girl, age six, responds to the name Angel." A snapshot of the missing child appears on screen; Angel silently wonders when it was taken. "She is a platinum blonde, stands at three feet five inches, and is traveling with four pokemon. Her team consists of an arcanine, a hydreigon, a sliggoo, and an abnormal, red absol." Calamity huffs at the remarks on her fur color and settles back into a napping position. "If anyone has seen Angel they are asked to contact their local Officer Jenny or inform their Nurse Joy. More information will be brought as it arrives."

A click of the remote changes the channel to a documentary about ocean dwelling pokemon and Cheryl places the device back on the table.

"You can't hide forever. The only reason I haven't said anything is you got me out of a sticky situation."

Angel scoffs slightly as she places her empty cup back on the wooden table, "Sticky situation is right. I never thought I'd come across a trainer being chased by a stampede of pokemon because she spilled honey on herself." The child's demeanour changes as she slumps forward, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience Cheryl, but I can't go back. Not if Cynthia won't let me keep my promise."

"She's just trying to protect you."

"I can take care of myself." Angel snaps before pursing her lips and casting an apologetic smile, "Sorry. I'm really uptight over all this. I'll probably leave tomorrow. Staying here isn't getting me any closer to where I have to be."

"And where's that?" Cheryl asks.

"No idea, but I need some information. How did Team Galactic succeed the first time?"

Cheryl bites the inside of her cheek in consideration before sighing and looking Angel in her violet eyes, "Team Galactic's old headquarters is located in Veilstone City. As far as I know it's abandoned, but you might be able to gather something there."

Angel gives a wavering smile, "Thank you Cheryl. I'll leave tomorrow morning."

The green haired woman nodded, but gave the child a warning. "I'll give you the day, but after that I'm calling Officer Jenny and telling her you're in Veilstone. I'm not going to be the one to keep a mother from her child."

…

Angel jumps away into the shadow of a building as two policemen turn onto the walkway she had been strolling down. The look around the area before proceeding further down the street. Mystic was able to drop them off discreetly, but the four o'clock news had been aired and the search for her was on. Police staff and volunteer trainers and civilians scoured the streets for the missing child. It was safe to say that all of Sinnoh wanted this child back with their champion.

Angel sprints across the momentarily empty street into the warehouse adjacent to the abandoned Galactic headquarters previously disguised as a construction company. Calamity bursts from her ball and nudges her trainer. The girl pants as she catches her breath and digs through her bag for her water bottle. She untwist the canteen and sucks the liquid down her throat before offering the bottle to Calamity, who shakes her head at the offer. The trainer pulls a granola bar and a canister of Calamity's food pellets out of the traveling bag. The two chew silently and peer around the edge of the doorway at the people bustling outside.

"Our supplies aren't going to last the rest of the week unless I can get to a forest to forage or into a PokeMart, but with all this hullabaloo I don't think either is happening anytime soon."

The absol whines her sympathy and places a paw on the child's leg.

"Thanks. We need to…" Angel quiets when she hears the creak of the metal door to her side. She jumps back when an older man strides through the mechanical gates. Said man jumps back too when he hears the growl emitted by Calamity.

"Arceus sake! What is a kid like you doing here? Wait, aren't you…"

"Shh!" Angel hisses as she cuts him off. "I'm trying to gather information on Team Galactic. How they managed to open the portal to the other world originally. You don't know anything do you?"

The man casts a glance at the shiny absol. The creature was crouched low to the ground in a pouncing position. Her red claws reflected the little sunlight filtering through the door and sole window as they dug into and scratched the concrete floor. The growl didn't seem to require air, for it never halted, and the razor teeth pulled back into a protective snarl.

"Ye-yes. I-I do. Please, follow me."

He takes a plastic card out of his pocket and swipes the machine next to the mechanical doors. The light shined green and the jaws opened. The man motions for her to enter and trainer and pokemon warily descend the stairs.

Angel hand jerks across her notebook. The small notebook originally kept the penciled thoughts of the child's travels, a friend to tell her adventures too, and now it held the secrets of Team Galactic.

"Cyrus was an inspiring man. Told us one day there would be a world where we'd never hurt again. There would be no pain, no sorrow, no feeling. For an old coot like me who has no children and whose wife had died, it seemed rational to pour my knowledge into creating it. But… none of us scientist ever considered how the lake guardians and the legendaries would suffer. No pokemon should be forced to do a crazy man's bidding."

Angel looks up as the scientist fiddles on the computer in front of him. The screen fills with analyses of the experiments. She volleys her vision as she copies down what she can comprehend.

"The red chain replicates the jewels on the pokemon's forehead and is infused with the energy collected from the meteorites. The legendaries pokemon DNA is forced into the chain and gives the wielder the power to summon and control the being of time and the being of space, as well as the guardians themself. From there a portal can be summoned, but the rest of Sinnoh will gravitate toward the opening and combust under the pressure."

"Is anything known about the dimension that Cyrus created."

The man shakes his head sadly, "Nothing, child."

Angel sighs and closes her notebook, "Thank you sir… Know that you have redeemed yourself."

"I haven't young one. I never will, but one step to attempting redemption is to make sure it won't happen again. In all honest I'm happy I didn't delete these files. It is still a selfish act because of the destruction these notes could cause, but I'm happy they helped you. You should leave soon Angel. Veilstone may be densely populated and big, but the police will find you."

Angel nods and stands. She gives a respectful bow before motioning Calamity up and leaving the room.

…

Angel settles herself in a cave on Route 214. All her pokemon lay beside her. Mystic curls himself in a ball by the entrance, ever watchful. The dragon more serious the past few days then Angel has ever seen him in their partnership. The arcanine slept next to the wall and did his job as space heater. The occasional snort erupted from his muzzle and stream tendriled out with the sound. Destin flattened himself on the floor in a puddle of rainwater that had dripped through a crevice in the cavern wall. Calamity laid down next to Angel to serve as a cushion and an extra heat source. Angel hugged her pokemon and stared out the entrance to the night sky beyond.

The summer was young still, so night contained its bitter bite for a few more days. Should Angel be on her lonesome for much longer, Diadem's body heat would no longer be needed. Even now Angel shifted away from the fire-type. Veilstone was a good distance from Celestic town and held less mountain cold.

Her violet eyes watch the twinkling stars and remembers the night Cynthia had shown her the constellations. Angel's eye find the Rapidash, the Klink, the Pyroar. The platinum tears her gaze away as her eyes begin to water and shifts on the uncomfortable ground, her sleeping bag left at the Pokemon League because she wasn't suppose to need it and figuring she'd double with Cynthia if they did end up camping a night. A lonely sigh escapes her lips before she falls asleep.


	23. Chapter 23

Angel dips her feet in Lake Valor's glassy water. A ripple skims over the surface before settling again. Her pokemon demolish what's left of her preserved pokemon food and Angel herself finishes off one of her last snack bars. She yawns and rubs her eyes to rid them of their drowsiness. The sun barely peeks through the trees surrounding the lake and the wind creates a field of goosebumps on her shoulders.

The child had wanted to see Azelf, but the pokemon was either ignoring her or out of lake. Either way, Angel was stuck. The platinum haven't the foggiest idea on where to go next. Major cities were a no and smaller resting places an even bigger no. She at least has a chance amongst a mass of people and buildings, put her in a two house town and she'd be under lock and key back at the League in a heartbeat, and she doubted that Cynthia would allow her out of the sight range of those gray eyes ever again.

The ear wrenching crinkle of a crushing tin makes the girl jump and turn around to see Diadem chewing on the food container from boredom. Mystic was using his food bowl as a frisbee, the disc spinning up before twisting down and getting locked into one of his many jaws. Destin finds his way under his master's arm and Calamity stretches in the small amount of sunbeam invading the area. Angel turns when she sees her absol jump up. The green eyes stare expectantly at the entrance and she stands with a huff. Violet orbs meet the jade ones.

"What do you mean someone's coming?" Angel whisper-shouts, paranoid as she shuffles around and gathers her items. Her hand barely misses Diadem's surprised teeth as she grabs the container littered with puncture wounds and her tiny hands snatch the dish being shaken my Mystic's main head. "We've got to go." Calamity barks harshly, but quietly. "Scratch that, we have to hide." The four pokemon are covered in red beams before merging with the light and disappearing into their capsules. Angel forces the items into her travel bag. She digs through one of its many side pockets and pulls out a bag of powder. She tears the package and throws it behind her, the brown specks falling into place among the grass. A Galactic innovation that messes with a pokemon's sense of smell.

The white haired girl ducks behind the tree line and holds her palms to her mouth to prevent her laboured breathing from being heard. The sound of two anthropomorphic (a large, convoluted word that Flint had told her meant bipedal and Lucian declared the statement only partly true) entered the field. Angel moved one hand to her chest, as if forcing pressure would keep her breathing from accelerating when Cynthia and her lucario enter the lake front.

Guilt lacerated the six-year-old's heart when she saw the bags beneath the champion's eyes and the robotic way she moved. Her joints seemed to only bend at two angles and her legs were stiff and lunged forward awkwardly, like she was on some sort of misshapen stilts. Lucario walked stoically at her side, ready to support the champion who had been eating less than usual and was undoubtedly overexerting herself.

"Lucario?"

The blue canine raises a snout to the air and his nostrils flare as he takes in the air. He looks at his trainer and shakes his head sadly.

The blonde lowers her head and her eyes dim as she stares at the dirt. Angel's fingers twitch as she resisted the urge to do something, anything. She felt like a skuntank and her just got locked together in the same room with a garbodor and everyone had a fight where she got the short end of the stick. The foliage around her shifts as she twists her body around so she faced the champion. Lucario's ears twitched at the sound and he turns an eye. The platinum freezes, knowing she's been caught, and silently pleads through her eyes for Lucario to think his next action over carefully. Not that Angel knew what she wanted that action to be. The blue pokemon decided and remained mute, but delivered a hard glare at Angel that drove home a painful message.

Calamity makes Angel's decision for her when the shiny creature explodes from her pokeball and makes enough disturbance for the champion to spare a glance at the forest. Unfortunately for Angel, crimson red and snow white are hard colors to miss amongst bland greens and muddy browns. The response is immediate, and Angel can positively say she has never seen an adult run so fast. There was no point in running or in flying. Lucario could outspeed her anyday and, even if she managed to wrangle herself onto Mystic, Garchomp would have her on the ground in no time flat.

The blonde's arms wrap around the child and forcibly, but gently, brings her to her chest. Angel's arms act as a barrier and prevents her from being fully enveloped by the champion and her violet eyes stare blankly at the ground as she is brought to her knees as Cynthia falls to her own.

"Baby Girl, you're okay. You have no idea how worried I was. Have you gotten enough sleep? Have you eaten properly? You didn't have your sleeping bag either." The questions continue to bombard Angel as Cynthia pulls back to push the knotty bangs away from the child's face. "Look at your hair; it's a mess. That can be easily fixed. Warm shower, proper meal, a new set of clothes, a hair brush. We should get your pokemon examined by Nurse Joy."

"Cynthia… Cynthia!" Angel calls the second time when the adult keeps yammering on. The little girl continues when the gray eyes refocus on her own and away from her roughed up appearance. "I'm not coming with you." Angel ignores the pained look and focuses on the trees behind Cynthia's head. "You're just going to send me back to the League, and I ain't just gonna sit around and wait for someone else to figure out what I've been trying to tell everyone from the beginning!" Angel pushes away from the champion, "You don't get to tell me what to do."

"I'm doing what's best for you," Cynthia asserts gently as she tries to grab the child again.

"Just because I'mma kid doesn't mean you can just boss me around!" Angel hisses; she ignores the warnings and pleas falling off Calamity's lips. Lucario shakes his head in the background.

"I'm your legal guardian. I can tell you what to do and you are going to obey it," Cynthia grinds out; the pent up anxiety finally rearing its head.

"Then give me back to Sycamore! Who'd wants a broken kid anyway? It's not like you probably care regardless!"

Angel bites her lip as the silence stretches out between the two. The small distance keeping her from Cynthia seemed to manifest and taunt her. Her heart twisting itself as the silence continued.

"Fine. I'll contact Sycamore, but until then, you're staying at the League."

…

Calamity watches anxiously as her trainer throws a myriad of items into a traveling bag. Clothes, new and old, unfurl from their folded positions after being shoved in so mindlessly.

"I told you it wouldn't last. It never does. People don't get it," Angel vents. "They think it's weird how I desire to help pokemon more than humans, but pokemon… Pokemon never hurt me. They never called me names or laughed at me." The violet eyes blur with tears and her voice quivers. "They don't think I'm broken. They actually want me around. Human don't."

Four sets of eyes stare around the corner at their champion silently crying outside the youngest recruit's door. The angered words were air horned out, but the tear jerkers never reached their ears. Bertha sighs and wipes her face with her hands, feeling slightly guilty and responsible. Flint and Aaron stared on with a morbid fascination, for they had never seen the blonde cry. Lucian upheld his calm exterior and pushed his glasses up his nose, hiding his misting eyes behind the lens glare.

Cynthia ignores the fact that the Elite Four was witnessing her breakdown. At this point the blonde could not care less about her image. One hand grasps her keystone and fingers the handmade chain as she stares, lost, at the door.

...

"Oh, Angel," Sycamore sighs over the holo caster. He sadly took in the paler skin tone and sickly features. The white of the trainer's eyes held a tint of red, even with the blue filter the camera projected, and it was obvious that she had hastily tried to mask her tears before calling her professor.

"Don't call me that," Angel snapped. "I don't deserve it."

Sycamore sighed again, but didn't retaliate. "Okay. I'll be awaiting your return Kalos."

The child nods and stares off into space. Neither speak as the platinum's reality sinks in. A shout in the background diverts the professor's attention.

"I have to go. I'll talk to you soon." The connection cuts off and the blue hologram disappears as the device's screen turns black.

Angel leans against the bed and absent-mindedly rubs Calamity's head. The sound of shattering glass makes the six-year-old look up in time to see a ball get thrown through the window and see the misty haze leak from its interior. The child sways before dropping to the ground.

 **Don't worry; I'm not leaving you hanging. I said if I got some reviews I would post a cliff hanger, so next chapters up.**


	24. Chapter 24

The figure viciously shakes the smaller girl's shoulder. The platinum locks dance with the movement and the hazy orbs are revealed as the child opens her eyes. Said child attempts to sit up but her arms flop under her weight and heave inward back onto the floor. The after effects of the drug still pulsating through her system.

"Guess that dosage was too concentrated for ya," Mars snickers from her position on one side of the van. "You know, for a famous person's kid, you were pretty easy to kidnap. I had harder time stealing some amateur's pokemon. Makes ya think… What? Nothing to say?" She jeers.

The platinum remains silent and watches the fat purugly nibble on an Oran berry it didn't need.

"Why'd you take me? They were forcing me back to Kalos anyway. Cynthia's no longer my foster parent." The child informs robotically.

"Falling out?" Mars scoffs when silence is her answer. "Whatever, you're basically collateral. They won't get in our way as long as we keep you under lock and key." The admin examines her nails, not interested in the conversation.

"They won't care if it's for the good of Sinnoh. Besides, I don't care if you open the portal. Not like anyone can actually stop you."

"Maybe you're not as stupid as you look. If you know there's no stopping Team Galactic. We will open Cyrus sir's dimension and make it reality." Mars' voice takes an a dreamy tone, "A world without spirit… It was his dream. And the day he took me and the others in we promised it would come true."

"Took you in?" Angel asks.

"Cyrus sir was misunderstood. No one could comprehend his brilliance. No one else saw how this world is terrible. A world with no feeling. Humans would never hurt again! We all had nothing, but Cyrus sir gave a purpose!" Mars exclaims excitedly as she jumps up.

"Sounds nice. A world without spirit."

Mars looks at her suspiciously. "Why would a little punk like you understand our motive? Your that show off's kid."

"I told you we're no longer connected. Besides, I'm tired of being hurt." Angel mumbles as she stares at her hands, the stubby fingers poke each other.

"Hmm… If that's really how you feel, then I have a proposition for you, Kid."

…

The League's Nurse Joy frantically runs between the champion who had just come to and the absol covered with scratch marks from being impaled from shards of glass. Chansey pokes a Chesto berry through the slightly ajar mouth in hopes of counteracting the sleeping gas and her human partner sprays a herbal spray over the puncture wounds.

A glass of water if forced into Cynthia's hands and her muddied mind slowly caught up to reality.

"What happened?" The blonde croaks out as she sits up from the bed in the medical wing usually reserved for pokemon.

"You fainted once you opened Angel's door. You need to start eating and sleeping properly Cynthia. Your over-exerting yourself." Bertha chided.

"What happened to…" The champion trails off when she notices the police officers swarming the building.

One took notes next to Calamity, writing down the statements Nurse Joy conveyed about its condition. Officer Jenny scribbled statements from the other Elite Four members.

"They took Angel," Cynthia recalls out loud.

"Yes they did. Cynthia, did you see anything?" Jenny asks as she moves to the champion's bed side.

The blonde shakes her head sadly.

"Don't worry Cynthia." Jenny reassures, "We'll get her back to you in no time. I'll bet she'll be a lot easier to find since she's not hiding this time."

Cynthia isn't convinced. Even if Angel did get past the numerous rounds of guards that were no doubtingly watching her, the champion didn't think the child would come fleeing toward her.

…

Mars keeps a close eye on the small child as she is lead through the Galactic HQ. Grunts line the walls at certain intervals and watch her suspiciously as the mechanical doors hiss open.

Saturn and Jupiter flank Charon on either side. Three screens flood the monitor of Charon's colossal computer.

"I think we might have a new recruit," Mars announces and her fellow admins turn around. The scientist casts a glance over his shoulder, but says nothing and stays facing his computer.

"Cynthia's daughter? Mars, I doubt a child like her can see our organization's complex cause." Saturn admits as he passes a small bean bag between his bored hands.

"Just because I'm younger than you doesn't mean I'm invalid." Angel retaliates quietly and blandly.

"Alright then child," Charon starts. "Why would you want a world that possessed no spirit."

"No one can hurt you. No one can misunderstand when they can't feel."

Saturn crosses his arms in consideration, "So you would help us capture the lake guardians?"

"There is no point in trying to stop you. Uxie has admitted it himself."

The admins smile at each other and Mars smirks smugly. Saturn fixes his gaze back on the child.

"Alright. You will assist us at Lake Acuity. For obvious reasons, she will hold onto your pokemon until you have proved yourself loyal and you will be given Galactic pokemon."

Angel hesitates, her fingers caress her pokeballs as she weighs her options before the three balls unclasps from their divots. The balls shrink to their smaller travel size before the blonde holds them out to the redhead. Mars raises her eyebrows in surprise before gingerly grasping the capsules.

"Don't think we can't see that luxury ball," Charon sneers as he gives her a subtle glare over his shoulder.

Angel grasps the pokeball and presses its button. The ball springs open and reveals the mechanical interior.

"You didn't kidnap my absol."

Jupiter snickers slightly at Mars' blushing face at her blunder. Angel returns the empty pokeball to her belt. Saturn calls a grunt forward and whispers in his ear. The grunt nods firmly before bowing in respect and scurrying off down a tunnel. There was an awkward silence for the few minutes they wasted waiting for the grunt to return with the, most likely stolen, pokemon. Angel leans against a thrumming machine in apparent boredom, but a critical eye would notice her shaking breathing and how she hides her hands behind her back. The bowl headed grunt comes running back in with two red pokeballs in his hands. They are held out to the small child and the platinum hesitantly grabs them. The two pokemon pop out from their prisons. The glameow arches its back back and hisses at the girl. The houndour growls menacingly and snaps his razor teeth at the child when she approaches. Angel murmurs words too low for the admins and scientist to hear and the pokemon roar harshly in response. A jumble of words tumble off her lips and the two seem to settle. They willingly push their heads into the palms of the child.

"Remarkable handling. Alright child, prove your worth. We want those lake guardians."

The two pokemon next to her stiffen and huff at her, but the child's reassuring pats soothe the tense creatures. The six-year-old glances up from her squatted position on the floor to nod at the elderly man.

"Alright, but we're revoking that name of hers," Jupiter starts. "No high class trainer of Team Galactic is going to be called Angel."

"Then we'll call her Mercury. The smallest planet in the solar system, but named after a deadly element. And that's exactly what she'll be." Saturn leans down to Angel's eye level and a finger lifts her chin up, "A small, dangerous child."


	25. Chapter 25

**Sorry for the wait! I've been busy doing a paper for English.**

Mercury reclines into the cushioned seat in Team Galactic's airship. The borrowed glameow makes herself comfortable on the new member's lap and Houndour sits at her side beside the arm of the chair. The child runs a hand along his head and her other along the arch of the feline's back. Mars and Purugly watch the three from their own seat. The redhead smiles to herself as the admin enlarges the video feed being recorded by the aircraft's side cameras.

Lake Aquity's snowy frontier welcomes the violet eyes and she stands to join Jupiter and Saturn at the despatch door as the ship descended onto the snow cloaked lake front. The white powder tornadoed as the jets blew the substance off the ground.

"Looky here Mercury," Mars summons and the child turns to face the admin. "Family reunion aye?"

The platinum turns her attention to the screen and recognizes the tall blonde glaring at the Galactic aircraft. Her garchomp, clad in a superior, scaly armor, roared angrily at the machine, and Mercury shuttered at the power radiating from the mega evolved pokemon. Cynthia throws a hand out and the screen shows she releases a silent scream. Garchomp opened her mouth and a pillar of flames burst forth from the abyss. The boiling flames bombard the ship and Mercury places two hands on the side walls to stabilize herself. Glameow and Houndour dig their claws into the floor to avoid being projected into the opposing wall.

"We're going to drop Mercury and Mars on the ground to distract the trainers. Jupiter and Saturn are going to obtain Uxie." A higher level grunt informs as he lowers the craft to the ground.

Mercury returns the pokemon into their pokeballs and raises an arm to protect her face from the gale force winds twirling her hair around like they were being controlled by a Psychic attack. Mar jumps through the open threshold first and lands gracefully on the ground before Cynthia, a trainer the child has never seen before, and a few of Snowpoint's police force. She looks up at the platinum expectantly and Mercury hurls herself out of the airplane. Her pale strands blow backward as gravity pulls at her and she twist in midair so that she landed on her feet instead of her face.

From the side of the shocked champion, the shiny absol barks happily and growls at the redheaded spacecadet.

"Angel! You're okay!"

Said child doesn't respond and hurls one of her borrowed pokeballs out toward the horde. Houndour growls fiercely and lowers itself to the ground in an attack pose. She points forward at the horde of defenders, "Houndour, Flamethrower. Circle."

The canine jumps into the air and spins so he's facing the mass before unhinging his jaw and throwing his head. The stream of flames create a circle around the trainers and all of them instinctively huddle away from the heat. The absol meets the child's gaze and nods slightly. She propels her white body upward and clears the wall of fire. Calamity is embraced by her trainer and sits on her haunches beside the platinum. Garchomp clears the ring of fire with a Sand Tomb and roars at the child.

"Angel, what are you doing?" Cynthia shouts as the girl's glameow is released from its pokeball.

"You should learn to call our new member Mercury." Saturn states from the aircraft. "Mercury if you would."

The child complies and looks at Calamity. She fists her hand and points at the island at the center.

"Houndour, Dark Pulse. Glameow, Shock Wave."

The two pokemon comply and hurl their attacks toward the center of the lake. The water crackles with electricity and the dark plasma zooms across the surface. Calamity releases her own colossal sized Shadow Ball at the water and the three collide with the cave with a resonating boom. As the dust clears a gaping hole is revealed to breach the rock island. Toxicroak and Skuntank fall through the air onto the island and their trainers promptly follow.

"Angel!" Cynthia yells desperately, although her plea seems to fall on deaf ears. "What are you doing? If this is you wanting an apology then I'm sorry for what I said."

"Your apologies mean nothing to Mercury. She's going to do what we say because she wants a spiritless world just like Cyrus sir did." Mars laughs as her Purugly releases a Hyper Beam. The bright light explodes and knocks back most of the police force's pokemon. Said officers rush to their partner sides in panic.

"Glameow, Shadow Claw." The feline's claw is enveloped in a dark purple hue as it lunges at the trainer's Blastoise armored shell. Gary smirked when his pokemon is left unscathed.

"I heard you were some prodigy." He snickers as his pokemon releases a Hydro Pump from his dual cannons.

Mercury simply raises her brows and waves a hand in the air. Calamity jumps at the turtle from the side and swings her glowing horn into the creature. The blastoise yells as it looses balance and falls over. It growls at the white disaster and his canons on his back focus. The absol twists to avoid the Scald and the blue stones bulge from the earth, forcing the blue pokemon upward. A jolt of electricty from Glameow forces the exhausted pokemon to the ground. Calamity pounces off the ground back to her trainer, leaving Mars to deal with Professor Oak's grandson.

"I'm sorry, but you don't understand." Mercury whispers to Garchomp, catching the dragon off guard, before she activates her key stone. Calamity is enveloped in a blue light and her limbs elongate. Her fur becomes shaggier and her wings sprout from her back.

Garchomp waits impatiently for instruction and, when she turns to see what the delay was, she notices Cynthia's conflicted look. The dragon returns her attention a second to late and the absol rams her body into the larger pokemon's. The force causes Garchomp to stumble and it takes longer than it should for her to be released from the shock.

"How did that do so much damage?" Cynthia mutters to herself.

"Fairy type attacks are super effective against dragons," Mercury murmurs again before she fists her hand and motions down.

A dark plasma ball hits Garchomp's legs and forces the bipedal creature to throw its arms out in balance. The champion notices the glow wearing off of Calamity's green eyes and racks her brain for the pokemon's move set.

Mercury throws her hand up and the blue stones propel the white beast skyward to avoid Garchomp's Dragon Claw. The rocks surge forward and break when Calamity's empowered horn makes contact.

"Garchomp, Brick Break!"

Calamity barks in surprise when the creature slams its claw into her back and ram the absol into the ground. The absol glares at the dragon from her position on the ground and braces for the next attack. The green eyes widen and she howls out a plea when Mercury rushes forward and throws her body in front of the white guardian.

"Garchomp, stop!" Cynthia screeches as she instinctively runs forward.

The glowing limb barely halts above the child's cranium.

Mercury's chest fluctuates with her accelerated breathing and her blood runs broiling hot with adrenaline. Light cascades over both pokemon as their mega forms recede back into their bodies.

"You're both showoffs," Mars scoffs as Purugly finishes off Gary's team. "Focus kid!"

That snaps the six year old back to attention as she jumps onto her injured pokemon's back and the duo flee from beneath the Garchomp. Right as Calamity's tail clears the area, the two portals appear on either side of Cynthia and her ace before they are bombarded with a Mega Calamity's Future Sight. As the smoke clears a battered Garchomp releases the shield she had created with her arms from around Cynthia and wavers slightly before straightening back to her normal position. The dragon growls a protest when she is returned to her ball, but she is too weak to retaliate.

Mercury's eyes stare wide eyed at the scuffed up champion who swaps her pokeballs inside her jacket. Lucario lands on the ground and stands, a flicker of emotions passes through his eyes when he sees his trainer's previous foster child. The violet eyes downcast.

A alien cry forces everyone to stop their battling and turn toward the lake's island. The small guardian swirls out of the top of its cavern and gazes at the chaos in front of it. Uxie twists to avoid the skuntank's Flamethrower and his eyes glow as the poison type is hurled into the water before rising up to the surface, fainted.

"Uxies's appeared!" One of the grunt yells.

The legendary pokemon and Mercury connect eyes. The child nods slightly before opening her arms.

"Help me Uxie. The dimension will be opened."

The yellow pokemon floats into the child's arms and a burst of aura resonates outward from the small body. A iridescent yellow pulse that slightly shifts the trees. Everyone glances around in confusion before sparing a look at the child as if she was crazy.

Mars smiles maniacally when Uxies' brethren teleport onto the scene. Purugly unleashes a hyper beam at the two legendaries, but they simply twist their bodies and dodge the incoming attack.

"Uxie, Psychic." The yellow creature emits power and its glowing eyes freeze Cynthia and her companion.

"Mesprit, Azelf." The duo floats over to take a seat on both of Mercury's shoulder. The platinum turns to Mars.

"Mission complete."


	26. Chapter 26

**Sorry for the longer wait, school's speeding up but I'll still try to update once a week. Thanks** ** _TheNightstriker_** **for the...ehm... enthusiast review.**

Cynthia stares at the horde of papers on her desk. Files, books, letters, documents, pictures. She tugs at her hair in frustration, the blonde strands straining her scalp from the force. The champion's fingers uncurl from her hair to once again shuffle through the papers on her desk as she tries to organize the mess. Statements were thrown carelessly to one corner, myths that her Angel (Cynthia refused to call the child Mercury) brought up multiple times tossed in another. The multiple letters that Looker had sent her about the rising activity, along with a case file on the delusional team, takes center desk as the blonde fingers through them.

An aggravated sigh slips off her lips as she sinks into her overstuffed office chair. Cynthia has faced angry legendaries before. She had taken on the psychotic engineer that attempted to destroy the world, his attention-deprived commanders, and the destruction of her Grandmother's beloved research center before, but one little girl later and she can't even raises a hand to call an attack.

One child. That's all it took for the blonde powerhouse to be stripped of any reason.

Her pen hovers over a notepad, blank bar the few black spots her twitching had caused. The blonde drops the writing utensil, it wasn't going to use anytime soon, and digs through her pants pocket for her cell phone. She stares at the screen as she thumbs through her photo gallery.

Cynthia had a habit of recording her life through pictures. Nothing fancy, she specialized in art of battling not the art of photography, yet her cell phone's memory bulged with pictures of scenic skyscrapers, lake fronts, mountaintops, forests, and the occasional profile of a wild pokemon. However, one would notice that the aesthetic scenery seemed to give way for a new muse. Violet eyes and white hair, a red absol, a shy goomy, two fighting fully-evolved pokemon snapping at the other's throat. An awed child sprinting around the Solaceon Ruins that wouldn't hold still long enough for Cynthia to take a clear shot. Garchomp tromping through a forested area with the girl on her shoulders, the occasional picture the champion was able to sneak in of her sleeping, and even a few that Angel begrudgingly allowed to be taken. Those shot usually showed an annoyed scowl.

The champion raises a hand to thumb away the moisture that started accumulating on her cheeks and slips the device back into her pocket. A new found determination settles itself and the blonde refocuses her attention back onto the stacks of paper in front of her.

…

The Elite Four watch silently as their leader rushes out of the kitchen with a large canteen of coffee at the ready. It didn't take a brainiac like Lucian to know that the blonde wasn't sleeping that night in favor of torturing her body with an all nighter.

"What's she even lookin' for?" Flint asks his comrades.

Aaron shrugs and rubs the head of his caterpie in thought. Lucian takes time to ponder the question himself, but Bertha ends up beating him to the answer.

"Nothing in particular dear. She's searching for something to search for. For a mother nothing is worse than feeling helpless. Angel can do no wrong in Cynthia's eyes. As far as she's concerned, Team Galactic has taken her daughter, and there is no fury like a mother separated from her baby."

"She can't really be thinking that can she? Angel's not easily coerced into doing anything she doesn't want to. Face it, she saw the kid call the lake guardians to give them to Team Galactic." Aaron interjects. "Cynthia will always do the right thing, right?"

Lucian pushes up his glasses and tucks his new book, a theory on human nature, under his arm, "Think of it this way Aaron. If people told you your parents kidnapped a trainer's pokemon would you believe them?" The green haired man violently shakes his head no. "Exactly. Even if you saw them with a new pokemon, your loyalty and affection wouldn't let you believe that the accusation is true." The wise man fiddles with his glasses again, "You can't blame her. Cynthia is isolated, you know that. Civilians can't treat her like she's a human, awe blinds that. That child gave her the affection she craved. I'd say that she became a tad too attached."

Flint snorts in false humor, "A tad? I made the kid's eyes water one time and she hard core glared missels at me until I awkwardly shuffled out of the room."

Bertha lets out a slight laugh, "A mother can be quite a bear."

"No kidding!" Flint growls as he fixes his perm.

…

The small child runs her fingers through Calamity's white fur mindlessly as she fingers through a book outside the glass enclosure. The three creatures have been spared the red chain, the information lost to the Galactics when their researchers never rejoined the team. However, they were still confined to the transparent container. She closes the book of myths, not actually a published book but Cynthia's journal she swiped from the adult's bag when she had fled into the mist, and places the leather bound journal on the cushioned couch. Calamity slides off the sofa with her and the two stand before the cage as the being of emotion greets her.

"I'm sorry."

It's alright, hatchling. If this is what you believe must be done, we will abide. Uxie saw it, the dimension will be opened. How it ends…

"Is up to me I know." She sighs.

What I want to ask you is, where is your mother?

The platinum doesn't answer and instead stares at the ground.

It'll be alright hatchling. She'll understand.

"Understanding and forgiving aren't the same thing."

…

The figure stares stoically at the abyss before him. He ignores his darkening surroundings and doesn't even flinch when the large shadow falls over his body momentarily. The manic screeches bounce off his leadened heart. He runs one hand along the purple ball at his waist, but shakes his head and removes his fingers. The man looks upward before his glassy eyes face forward and he turns away.

The black shadows screeches again before rocketing across the expanse in blind fury. The force behind its speed cracks the shrubby trees into splinters, the obsidian wood heaving under the pressure. The suspended boulders twirl in their frozen position and the red dust blows up to cover its receding form.


	27. Chapter 27

**The suspense is building. Sorry for the slower updates but I'll try to post on Mondays or Fridays or both. This story's almost over, the climax is approaching. Don't worry though, I'm planning on a sequel and a collection of one shots for our dysfunctional family. Thanks for the reviews; it keeps my motivated.**

Mercury happily reclaims the three pokeballs and snaps them back on her waist. Her team wiggles in comfort at being back on their trainer's hip and the child bows to Saturn before leaving the computer room. The automatic doors announce her entrance to the grunts littering the halls and they all turn to watch the prodigy meander down the corridor as she made her way back to her living quarters. When she stands before the black door she raises a hand to the scanner. A blue light resonates and a line runs across the screen before the device beeps and the lock clicks open, leaving the door slightly ajar.

The child walks calmly through the door and nudges the release button on Calamity's pokeball. The black sphere separates itself and the guardian materialises beside her trainer. She sits on her haunches to watch her master shed the ridiculous space uniform and dig through her backpack to look for a more comfortable outfit. Her violet eyes narrow in confusion and pulls out a garment she didn't remember having packed in her duffle.

The large sweatshirt unravels itself and a twitch of her nostrils immediately forces the perfume lingering on the fabric to assault her nose. Calamity tromps overs to the child and nudges her slightly trembling hands to examine the clothing. Cynthia's perfume filters through her nose and the pokemon cries slightly when the girl sheds her Mercury persona and hugs the sweatshirt to her body. The oversized clothing falls over Angel like a curtain and she pulls back the sheets on her oversized bed. The dark gray sheets are tossed aside and the six-year-old curls into a ball on the mattress. Calamity jumps onto the bed with her girl and lays beside her; attempting to make up for the empty space. Her red head rests on her master's side as the body starts to shake with sobs and the soft fur attempts to substitute Cynthia's gentle caress.

The pokeballs on her waist break open and the concerned pokemon try to counsel the young child, but the tears don't ebb and the heaving, gaspy hiccups continue to torture her. Glameow meows in sympathy as she lays a paw on Angel, remembering her own trainer. Houndour licks at her face, he never liked it when his real trainer cried. Destin mushes itself under her head to serve as a cushion as it murmured words of reassurance in her ear. Diadem and Mystic stood at the side of the bed, too large to fit on the now full bed and just bow their heads so they're staring at the ground, motionless, listening to the sobs helplessly.

Calamity raises her head when the child finally silences and huffs at the dragon. Said dragon protests with a quiet roar and shakes his three heads. The others soon gang up on the poor creature, all five crying and roaring. Mystic shrinks from the sound and motions with his smaller heads for them to quiet down before he waves them in defeat and snatches his own pokeball off his trainers belt. The rest watch as the black creature flies out the door and into the expanse, heading east.

…

Cynthia groans as her stiff joints voice their discomfort and lifts her head from the cluttered desk. A glance outside shows that it's just past daybreak. Warm orange hues flicker across her office and glint off the untouched plate of food. The weather's attempt at a happy greeting is met with a scowl, as if it could control time, and she was tempted to close her blinds so it wouldn't seem as if another day passed with the champion getting nowhere.

The blonde drops her exhausted head back into her arms and lets some comfort embrace her with the ray's warmth. Cynthia turns a open eye back to her window when the heat is disrupted by a shadow and her gray eyes stare in shock at the figure. They blink before her brain registers the hydreigon flailing at her window with a dusk ball grasped in its main mouth.

The champion springs up to let Mystic through her window; a tight squeeze for the dragon. Mystic drops his pokeball into Cynthia hands before heavily panting from its long trip.

"Mystic? What are you doing here?" The blonde asks, not really caring that she won't understand the answer as she runs her hands to check for sprained or twisted limbs.

The brutal pokemon floats over to the window and points at the large mountain in the distance. Cynthia turns her slate eyes to Mt. Cornet and stands, half expecting an explosion or portal to rift the area around the land mass.

"There isn't much time is there?"

The dragon nods and stares at the new day sun. If only he was able to tell the mother that the sand was starting to propel a tad too close to empty. Only a few sunrises remain...

With an invisible light bulb above his head, Mystic motions to the sun and circles one of its smaller head across the horizon two times.

"Two days huh?" Cynthia grabs the water glass on the table and wets her parched throat. She places the empty glass back onto the desk and grabs her jacket. "Come on. I need to get the others."

…

The ensemble gathered in Professor Rowan's lab would probably make any common citizen stare, and fanatics could easily faint at the sight of so many legends in one town. Father-son gym leader duo Byron and Roark wait impatiently for answers. Candice twisted her jacket around her waist, sweating from being out of her polar icecap hometown, and Maylene attempts to crack a joke about ice for her best friend's amusement. Volkner sulks in a corner as Flint pesters him and Fantina shouts some sort of nonsense to Gardenia, who is examining a turtwig for Rowan. Crasher Wake tears into a protein bar that he didn't need.

"How long do we have?" Rowan asks the distraught mother, eyeing the irritated garchomp and the flinchy hydreigon.

"Two days."

"We should just force our way in!" Byron yells, "That what men do when they want things done!" The steel master is immediately hammered into the ground by the glares from his fellow female gym circuit leaders.

"Dad…" Roark groans as he hides his face with his hands.

"We can't just use brute force. Team Galactic have three willing legendary pokemon in their arsenal and an overpowered six year old." Lucian started.

Everyone silents for a moment as they think. Fingers tap in the air, hands grasp temples, and chins are stroked in consideration. Surprisingly, the blond in the corner speaks up.

"That last part seems easy enough to eliminate," Volkner vocalizes from his corner as he pulls Flint away by his hair. The fire type master panics as he re-sphereizes his perm.

"You are not hurting my Angel," Cynthia growled as she straightened from her laid back position leaning against a table.

"Seems like the easiest way to me. Get rid of the kid, get rid of the lake guardians, prevent the portal, call it a day." The electric type huffs out as he looks at his champion blankly.

"I am champion for a reason and have no problem showing off why I earned that title if you so much as…"

"Now, now, settle down you two." Rowan intervenes before his lab goes kaboom due to an angry, overprotective mother. "Cynthia he has a point," the professor is quick to explain when the two dragons inch forward, "now I'm not saying we harm her, but we need to get her away from Team Galactic. By Hypnosis or persuasion, Team Galactic doesn't get her. You get Angel back," Rowan directs his eyes at the distraught blonde, "and we stop Team Galactic. Win, win, yes?"

Mystic seemed to have doubts as he murmured his concerns to Garchomp, only for the older pokemon to roar at him angrily and flail her fins around. The dragon raises his three heads to further vocalize when he notices Cynthia withdraw his pokeball.

"Don't worry Mystic, this will work." The champion returns the pocket monster into his pokeball and gave it an affectionate squeeze before placing the ball back in her jacket.

"If this is going to happen," Cynthia begins, "I get to confront her. She is my responsibility."

…

Mercury notices her shortage of pokemon, but doesn't make a comment to her other companions as she untangles herself from the horde of pokemon surrounding her. She strips the sweater off and neatly folds it before bringing it to her nose to inhale what remains of the scent. It is carefully placed into her backpack and she shuffles over to the metal dresser to pull out a clean uniform. The top resembled Mars and Jupiter, with a dark gray neck and a white bodice. Instead of a skirt or leggings she wore the dark gray shorts. A white band encased her lower thigh and high gray boots were pulled over her feet. She pulled her hair over to one side and held it up with a hair band so that it fell over half of her body.

She opened her door and picked up the plate of food a grunt had left outside and placed it on the ground for her pokemon. Calamity barks at her.

"I'm not hungry." The red pokemon scolds her with a growl. "Don't get your fur into knots, I ate yesterday. Come on, let's go. We start preparations."


	28. Chapter 28

**Heyyy everyone. You all see the new generations webisode? My FAVORITE. Thanks for the reviews _TheHolyBlade_ and _TheNightStriker._ Much appreciated as always. Enjoy.**

Mt. Coronet officially held the title of most annoying place ever. Mercury preferred Kalos' frigid ice caves and snow covered routes accessible only by mamoswine to this increasingly infuriating labyrinth of rock that even the zubat had a hard time navigating. The fog blinds her perception and the tired child slightly stumbles forward, her lack of appetite that resulted in her not eating anything other than the occasional energy bar catching up to her. A skittish grunt immediately unleashes his pokemon to disperse the heavy, soupy air before the angry admin unleashed her fury on them. The child only huffed and stomped past the pitiful, trembling teen deeper into the rock maze. Calamity puffs herself up as she trots beside her trainer, amused at the grunt's petrified reaction to a six-year-old that didn't even make it to their shoulder.

The platinum unlatches the flashlight from her waistband and the beam illuminates the broken mural that had previously guarded the entrance. The three guardians float at Mercury's head, eyes flitting to take in their surrounding when Uxie and Calamity yelp a the same time. The child drops to the ground and avoids the energy ball torpedoing towards her head. Calamity jumps in front of her protectively as the grass gym leader and her turtwig leave the shadows. The grass type's leaves glowing with prepared energy.

"You should turn back now Angel. I'm just the first of many."

"You make it sound like I didn't know," Mercury motions to the three guardians twirling around her body. "You know Uxie sees the future right?" The violet eyes collide with her partners and a cannon of ice propels the turtwig into the cavern wall. It falls to the ground.

"Turtwig!"

Mercury huffs and motions for one of her armada to stay behind to deal with the gym leader. A bowl headed grunt hurls out a houndour to attack the vengeful cherrim. The six-year-old fixes her glassy eyes away from the battle and continues onward.

…

Mercury knew it was going to happen. She knew, but she pretended that she didn't believe that the champion would be waiting with her elites at the end of the slew of gym leaders. The lake trio and her grunts had handled six of the remaining seven that proceeded Gardenia. Calamity still contained scuff marks from Volkner's Jolteon and Destin had to take over when Diadem had almost been taken out by a surprise Bulldoze from the electric emo's electivire.

Only one grunt remained from her original group of twelve and the admin waved him off from helping as Calamity took her position at one end of the expansive empty space separating the two blondes. "Angel." Cynthia starts.

"Cynthia." The child bows her body elegantly, a odd sort of curtsy for a child wearing shorts, and casts a glance at the Elite Four.

The three legendaries move forward when she beckons them to her and listen to her whispers. They form a triangle around the two blondes and a force field surround the battlefield. The Reflect cages in the two trainers and Mercury's eyes spark before she throws a hand out. The absol zooms across the field as a red tinted blur and, as the dragon twists to keep the quadruped in view, a Sucker Punch knocking the dragon forward.

"Dragon Claw!"

The iridescent greenish-blue light covers the claw as Garchomp propels her arm forward. Calamity, sensing the blow bursts out of the way using a Quick Attack before pivoting around ramming her glowing horn into the beast's abdomen.

Cynthia grits her teeth. Her Angel was never one to let the champion peek in on her training. Movesets were coming up blank and the duo's silent language still went untranslated. Frazzled the veteran orders her partner to Dragon Claw the opposing creature, sending the white pokemon into the barrier. Slight cracks form on the tiled walls as the absol falls to the ground, scuffed but mostly unharmed. Mercury, sighs, the Reflect barrier has succeeded.

Slightly more confident that she won't get totally plowed by the champion, the child releases a heavy sigh before nodding to her partner. The shiny pokemon, in reply, glows before ramming into the opponent, sending the garchomp flying into the cage wall. The iridescent barrier spider cracks on impact and the dragon catches itself onto the barrier behind it before launching itself at Calamity, horn adornments glowing as she envelopes herself with a Dragon Rush.

Calamity is slammed into the cavern wall, the Reflect heaving, and drops to the ground in a heap. White limbs and red paws slump together.

"Calamity!"

The platinum rushes forward to pick up the creature's head in a gentle act of affection. Her thumbs rub the sides of the battered absol before hugging the fainted pokemon around her scruff. The child's violet eyes scatter wildly in her eyes as she tries to rouse her pokemon.

"Calamity?" The violet orbs water and her voice raises an octave, "Calamity! Calamity, wake up!"

The three guardians float over to examine the pokemon. Mesprit tries to console the crying child as Azelf and Uxie examine the absol. The pink legend nudges Calamity's pokeball with her tail and the six-year-old wails louder. She turns damaged eyes onto Cynthia.

"What did you do!"

Garchomp moves forward, wanting to examine her damage and its fatality, but halts when the platinum screeches.

"Stay away from her!" The youngster tightens her grip on her partner protectively and shrinks into the wall when Cynthia moves closer to the duo. "Just stay away…" She mutters.

Slowly, the child unhooks the luxury ball from her waist. She rubs her injured pokemon one more time, grateful for the feebly rising chest that proved she wasn't dead, and the capsule absorbs the pokemon into its protective ball. A small kiss is placed on the sphere as it is reattached to her belt.

The platinum stumbles to her feet and the three lake guardians crowd around her worryingly when her knees buckle when she attempts a step forward. Cynthia's gray eyes take note of her paler than normal features and the way her Angel wavered side to side as she straightened herself.

"She's exhausted," Bertha whispers to the champion.

"Sleep deprivation or lack of nutrition, possibly both," Lucian adds as a side note.

"Angel, please talk to me." The twenty-eight year old pleads as she takes another step forward and reaches her arms out.

"The time for talking is not now. I have a promise to keep," She turns to the three psychic types,"Get me to the summit. You," Her eyes focus on the remaining grunt shivering in his boots at the mere thought of going up against any of veterans before him, "Turn back and find the others. You'll get demolished if you stay."

"Yes ma'am," He hiccups before fleeing down the tunnel.

"Angel…" Cynthia warns.

"I know you probably hate me for this, but you don't understand. I made a promise and you got in the way. Hate me if you will; it's a better feeling than betrayal." The multi-colored light circling the child covers her body as Mesprit, Azelf, and Uxie prepare to teleport her away.

"Angel, don't…"

"I'm sorry," The platinum cuts off softly as the four disappear.


	29. Chapter 29

**Thanks for the review** ** _KnightsKnig._**

Mercury materializes at the summit, much to the surprise to the three admins and Charon. The three legendaries break away from the child and the violet eyes glance at the two orbs standing on pillars towards the edge of the summit.

Violet orbs glance around the area. Pillars sported cracks and shifted from their original stoic figure to stand crookedly, like broken fingers. The pokemon on standby waiting for directions paw at the fissures in the ground and roll the pieces of debris across the ruins in their boredom.

"Are you ready child?" The old man asks as the three lake guardians take position around the orbs in triangle formation.

The child released her sliggoo and her arcanine for standby before entering the triangle. Light outlines the shape and the two orbs glow a faint color. One pink, one blue. The three pokemon eyes glow as the triangle's borders slowly rise. Uxie's concentration breaks and the walls shatter when a Shadow Ball is launched at the four. Mercury drops into a roll to avoid the Aura Sphere and accompanying Flamethrower.

"Aw, crap it's the champion," One of the grunts whines as her glameow is hurled through a column.

The violet eyes catch a glimpse of the determined champion and she motions her pokemon forward. Destin sticks himself to Diadem's mane and the duo charges at the lucario and spiritomb. Mesprit, Uxie, and Azelf cut off Garchomp's rampage with barriers.

A whistle cuts through the air and Mystic's pokeball bursts open from within Cynthia's coat. The dragon takes its stance in front of the opposing dragonic beast ramming its claws against the Reflect caging it in. A Brick Break destroys the box and the two dragons go for eachother. Flames are spewed in all directions, creating a broken circle of fire, and the hydreigon throws its head forward before a spiraling beam launches the garchomp back a few spaces. Garchomp retaliates and torpedos forward, sharp claws slice across the brutal pokemon and Mystic roars in pain before it spins to land a Dragon Tail.

The child gingerly picks up the rolling dusk ball and places it back on her hip. Her main distraction preoccupied, she restarts the summoning and Cynthia realizes too late when that the two orbs have begun to glow radiantly. The eyes of three lake guardians shine and they stretch out their bodies when the orbs illuminate even brighter. Their tails spin outward and Mercury radiates her signature pulse in a colossal wave that causes all the pokemon to turn around to stare at her.

The air above the child begins to distort and waver as the pulse resonates across the sky.

"Hear our plea! Dialga, Palkia, answer my summons!"

The portals start to gravitate inward, a swirling vortex that limbs start to protrude from. The two beasts float hauntingly in the air and stare with their red, beady eyes at the tiny creature who dared summon them.

"Angel, don't you dare!" Cynthia half pleas, half hisses as she starts to run forward, only to be stopped by Diadem.

She tries to dodge around the canine, but the arcanine pounces in front of her movements. Both of their faces contort, muscles tensing as they glower at each other. The fire type roars and rushes forward to force the champion back. Cynthia huffs in annoyance and releases her gastrodon.

"Gastrodon, water pulse!" The sea slug creature hurls its head forward and propels the ball of water at the arcanine.

Diadem jumps to the side and releases a slew of flames to force the pokemon back.

Wind, or the power that pulsates from the two menacing legendaries, whirlwinds the platinum locks around as she stares upward.

"Please, help us! Help me ease your friends fears. Open the dimension where the renegade resides so that it won't destroy this world!"

Dialga roars at the small girl before him. The question causes her to straighten.

"I made a promise to help and, and this world is too beautiful to destroy. I-I don't care that it likes to hurt me. That it killed my father, that my mother left us when I was born. I have my pokemon and, and I have Cynthia. This world is happy and full of love. Do you want that to be gone?"

Palkia murmurs at her.

"I don't care what happens to me and neither do my pokemon. I don't care about the pain from when I was younger because I know my father loved me and Cynthia gave me love. I don't need to live through today, but this world does. I don't care if everyone hates me because this is the region where my Mama is from and, this dimension, this time, is the one she loves. So I've got to protect it."

Everyone pauses. Cynthia in stunned silence stops trying to skirt around Diadem to stare at the small child in front of her in misty, eyed wonder. Garchomp starts using Mystic as a punching bag and lands beside her trainer. The Team Galactic admins scowl and Charon states their thoughts,

"Well, you little traitor. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. We'll just have to eliminate you know."

Angel doesn't even flinch at the armada of pokemon flying at her, but does blink in subtle surprise when Dialga releases a Flash Cannon that blow the creatures back and down the stairway leading to the ruins.

The violet eyes spark when she connects them with the legendaries and she bows her head in respectful thanks. The two beasts turn to each other and roar. Energy wraps around their frames and a new rift appears between them. It slowly grows in diameter and the center reveals nothing more than a purple hole that descended into an unknown area.

Angel calls her pokemon back into their pokeballs. She stares at the ominous hole and slowly inches her way across the cracked rubble towards the portal. A clog catches in her throat that makes her heavy breathing more difficult as she stretches her neck to catch a glimpse at the realm below. Her eyes widen and her lungs labor to breathe at the sight, but feeling the two legendary pokemon eyes on her, she steels her nerves and throws caution to the wind.

Her legs kicks out from beneath her as she leaps into the abyss. Energy crackles around her and her limbs felt like they were being constricted by slimy, seaweed by the way it uncomfortably slid along her skin. Her hair flows behind her as she propelled to her possible doom and Angel keeps twitching her eyes between closing shut and staring wide eyed. Deciding she'd rather not look, Angel glues her eyes together in a vice grip and let the energy take her.

…

The ground was a rude awakening. Angel couldn't explain why, but she half expected she'd land on her feet. She found herself corrected when she landed flat on her behind and tumbled onto the red dirt. Her hands press against the fractured earth and she pushes herself into a kneeling position. The child's hand goes to her waist, but recoils when she remembers her team's exhausted state. Sighing, Angel stands up and hits the dust off her outfit. Her violet eyes glance around the familiar landscape.

Spasmodic masses of land hung suspended in the air against the purple background at every angle unimaginable. Some sported black, deformed, bristly trees that looked like they could pierce through skin. Pointed rocks protruded from the crimson earth like ragged teeth and the occasional waterfall, flowing both down and up, could be seen from the child's position.

Angel stiffens when the little light available darkens for a second and when she looks up she catches the tail end of a phantasmal being in her peripheral vision. When she turns to investigate she discovers the creature is gone.

A thud behind her makes the child jump and pivot on her heels. What she makes out through her mass of hair is a slim figure cloaked in black. Angel stares at the rising person in a stupor as her companion brushes the debris off her outfit and starts to approach her. The violet orbs just stare blankly as Cynthia brushes her hair away from her face before grasping the child in a death grip, apologetic words streaming from her mouth.

"I'm sorry Angel. I-I I'm so sorry that I doubted you," Cynthia's grip on Angel tightened, almost painfully, but the platinum didn't care and even forced herself further into the embrace.

The mother keeps up her apologies as she relinquish her grip.

"It's okay Mama. As long as you're not mad at me. Y-you don't hate me right?"

The champion smiles at her and places a kiss on her forehead, "I could never hate you Love." The blonde stands and smiles slightly when Angel clutches her hand tightly when she tries to pull away.

"What is this place?" The adult wonders out loud.

Two words blurted from Angel's mouth, not because she knew their origin but because they seemed to propel their way out on their own. "The Distortion World."

"Cyrus created this place?"

The platinum shakes her head as she stares at the swirling vortex in the distance, "I don't think so Mama. This is beyond even a mad man's mind and… I saw something earlier."

Angel doesn't elaborate and shudders slightly at the thought. Cynthia crouches down, pats her head and snatches Calamity's pokeball of the child's waist.

"Hey!" Angel protests as she jumps to grasp the luxury ball before Cynthia rose to full height.

The adult smile at the pout before digging through the bag she had strapped to her waist for potions. A max potion made its way out of the folds of the fabric and the champion kneels on the ground to start healing the younger's pokemon.

Calamity slumps to the ground when released, still battered and sore. She opens her green eyes and her view is filled by her trainer's face, the pokemon lets out a soft cry. The spray medicine makes the absol wince at the slight sting, but she feels rejuvenated nonetheless. The creature stumbles its way up to its four paws and shakes her ruff.

"Are your others okay?" The mother asks as she stands and puts the empty container back in her bag.

"They're fine. We only have two things to find here anyway."

Cynthia looks at her but doesn't say anything. Instead she follows the child once she starts walking. The champion doesn't question their direction, if anyone has the slightest clue what is happening it's Angel, but flinches slightly when the child launches herself at one of the floating steps. Her heart probably skipped a beat when she did it again and Cynthia choked on her own saliva when the girl nudged the center of a platform and it went zooming in one direction before it came zooming back. Calamity, probably just as fearful your lifelong trainer was going to fall into literal oblivion jumped after her.

It's going to be a long day.


	30. Chapter 30

**Hey guys! Did you see I posted the one shot collection** ** _Memories of Angel_** **? I hope you all like it. For how Cyrus got to the Distortion Workd is a mix between** ** _Generations and the anime._** **Cyrus entered the portal himself but it happened at Spear Pillar, not that cave in the anime. Thanks for the review** ** _Zachlor16_** **I hope I answered your question.**

The Distortion World was just as bad as Mount. Cornet, but at least in that pile of rock Angel knew for a fact she wouldn't free fall into a swirling purple hole. She stops to catch her breath, air seemed thinner in this dimension, and Cynthia nudges a water bottle under her face.

"I'm fine. We should probably save what we have."

"I know you haven't been taking care of yourself, drink." The mother forces the container to her mouth and Angel brings her hands up to inhale the liquid that starts sloshing down her throat.

Angel wipes at her mouth, catching the dribbling excess, and stares ahead, not certain on where exactly they should be going. In fact, they seemed to have hit a dead end on a weird sideways island that they should be falling off of if normal laws of gravitation applied. Uncertain, she creeps towards the edge and watches the empty space before her. Her violet eyes narrow when she sees a slight shift in the air.

Mystic pops out of his pokeball and hovers around his trainer in curiosity, not quite sure what to make of his surroundings. His large head leans down to listen to his trainer's whispers and he gives her an uneasy look that has Cynthia lunging forward.

The champion is a tad too late. Angel is already hurling herself off the rocky platform and into the open space by the time her fingers graze the area the child had previously inhabited.

The hydreigon hovers overhead as Angel clunks against the floating piece of land that became visible once she touched it and the platinum releases a sigh when she notices she isn't dead.

Cynthia paces on the island she is standing on. The piece of land Angel had pounced on was far too narrow for both of them to stand on. This left the mother anxiously pulling at her hair strands to relieve stress as her daughter stuck out a hand to feel around for the invisible ground beneath her.

"Mama! Hurry up!" Angel shouts impatiently from her position. "It goes straight, just jump."

Mystic flew over to the champion's side, the last thing he needed was for Cynthia to plummet to her death. Still sore from his battle with Garchomp, he wasn't going to be flying with a passenger in the immediate future, but he could still do a sweep and save if necessary.

The blonde tenses her muscles before springing in the general direction of the small land mass. Her heels roll to the balls of her feet and her arms shout out to balance herself as the champion skids forward. When she look up, Cynthia is met with a scowling face.

"What's that look for?"

"How come I keep falling and you barely stumble?"

Cynthia chuckles at the question, gives the girl's cheek a small pinch that is violently shaken off, and motions for the six-year-old to keep moving forward.

Angel huffs but turns and continues her walk onward along the thin island.

"You don't have Togekiss on you do you?"

The adult shakes her head no, "I switched her out for Glaceon. I don't have a pokemon that can fly besides Garchomp."

"And Garchomp's weakened and not the best carrier either," Angel sighs before nibbling on her lip in thought. "Mystic, fly as high as you can manage and give me a survey. Tell me what you see."

The dragon hisses its understanding and swirls upward.

"What are you looking for?"

"Not sure," Angel admits. "Whatever it is that Mesprit's scared of I guess."

Their conversation is interrupted by a whistling sound propelling through the air. Angel looks up and watches in horror as a dark figure rams into Mystic. The Drill Peck sends the dragon flying into the ground before them.

"Mystic!"

"What are you doing here child?" A phantasmal voice asks.

The duo turns to see a man, not old per say but weighted down by some force that gave him a older air. His deathly pale features matched the sunken in skin of his face that hugged his skull. His blue hair, slightly overgrown, shadowed his face and the only appealing part of his appearance was the startling icy blue of his eyes, but even the orbs were dull and lifeless. The honchkrow flaps down to his side and plucks at its feathers carelessly.

Cynthia freezes and the action unnerves Angel who pulls at her jacket to try to snap her back to reality.

"Cynthia and you have a child clinging to your leg. Makes me slightly curious on how long I've been here if you have an offspring. So, how long has it been?" The man muses.

"Three years," Cynthia grind outs and wraps a protective arm around Angel. The child is pulled closer to the mother's side.

"Hm. So she isn't yours then. It matters not. What does matter is what you're doing here; in my domain. My paradise."

"Mama. Is this…"

"I am Cyrus child. I assume you know who I am if your Galactic uniform means little. What are those idiots trying to do?" Cyrus questions.

"They wanted to make your dream a reality and to find you so they could show you it." Angel answers.

"Fools," Cyrus mutters. "This world is for myself and myself alone. A world with no spirit. Lovely."

"You're delusional," Cynthia hisses at him.

"I am the only rational one here. Now, leave me be." Cyrus commands and motion them away with his hands.

"No." Cyrus looks at the defiant child with annoyance. "You must be the corrupted, empty sun Mesprit has told me of. So far gone there is no hope. You are a trespasser here. You are angering whatever truly reigns here. You need to leave before it attacks and destroys both worlds."

Cyrus chuckles with no humor. "That beast can't do anything to me. This place is its prison and I'm its gatekeeper. You should be thanking me, it can't leave without its orb. The one that I control. And if it destroys Sinnoh? Why do I care? If you won't leave willingly then I'll make you." Cyrus raises an arm and his honchkrow takes a battle stance.

Angel reaches for one of the pokeballs at her waist only for her hand to be grabbed by Cynthia.

"Let me battle him Angel. He's crazy and I can take care of him easily."

Angel takes hold of the hand grasping her wrist with her free one.

"Let me Mama. I-I have to do this myself."

Cynthia purses her lips, but lets go of the child's hand and takes a step back. Her eyes watch anxiously as she pulls Mystic back into his ball and grasps Calamity's.

"It's up to us Calamity. Let's keep our promise." She removes her eyes from the luxury ball and stares at Cyrus, who is watching with his ever present blank face. The tiny hand tightens on the pokeball before she hurls it outward.

"Calamity, curtain call!"

The shiny absol spins through the air and lands on the ground, legs spread out to absorb the shock of the fall. Her lips pull back to reveal her teeth as she growls at the opponent.

"Fine. If this is how you desire to do it," Cyrus sighs.


	31. Chapter 31

As much as Angel hated to admit it, that first attack took it's toll. The dark blue avian had torpedoed into Calamity before she could even sense the attack and sent her skidding across the rock. The quadruped had to dig in her claws to stop her motion and immediately threw her head back to summon a Stone Edge that prevented the honchkrow from landing another Drill Peck.

The bird shot skyward and Angel bid Calamity follow. The absol jumped from stone to stone, power accumulating in her mouth for when she got a clear shot. The honchkrow had to slow to avoid a floating piece of debris and got pelted with shards of ice. It cawed in pain and feel as its wings froze over. Calamity followed after, jumping from her ledge to free fall after the avian. Her horn glowed and, in synchronization with Angel's guiding arm, she rammed it into the back of the pokemon as it made contact with the ground. Calamity jumped off and waited to see if its opponent would rise.

It didn't.

Cyrus returned his honchkrow to its ball and dislodged another one. A weavile is next. It stares sinisterly and lets out a boastful cry at the child. Calamity growls at the insult.

"Don't let it bother you Calamity." Angel soothes. "Go."

The shiny pokemon doesn't hesitate for a second. She bounds toward the weavile, who blinks in surprise at its speed, and rams it over the head with an Iron Tail.

The weavile hisses in pain and digs its claws into the absol tail before pulling a claw back and delivering an ice punch to the throat. Calamity gurgles in pain and Angel stumbles slightly as her pokemon's pain seems to pulsate throughout her body. The disaster pokemon is recalled into her pokeball before she faints.

"Diadem, curtain call."

The arcanine roars angrily and glowers at the ice type before it. The weavile takes a cautious step back before lunging forward, a glowing, purple rod held in its claws.

Diadem absorbs the Night Slash with relative ease and latches his fire cloaked teeth onto the struggling pokemon's shoulder. He hurls it at Cyrus, where it collides against one of the spiny trees before falling to the ground.

"You feel your pokemon's pain. How very interesting. Tell me, why do you have a connection with these tools? Why do you want to save this pathetic world?" Cyrus asks as if it were any normal small talk and releases a houndoom.

"Arceus. You're as bad as my uncle. What is with you delusional people and thinking that the world needs to end because it isn't perfect? The fact that it isn't perfect is its ultimate perfection. Pokemon aren't tools. They are perfect creatures whose beauty will long outlive humans."

Diadem is called back, Angel knew that houndoom could posses Flash Fire and Destin took stage. It took the Crunch that sunk into it and barely flinched at the Flamethrower.

"Your perfect creature doesn't pack much of a punch." Cyrus insults as the sliggoo is forced back with a Dark Pulse.

Angel smirks and brings an arm to her face to shield the light resulting from the Bide. The beam flings the surprised pokemon into the air and the houndoom gives a surprised yelp when it starts falling back to the ground. A red beam encases it and it dissipates into its pokeball.

Destin doesn't survive the Dragon Pulse that the large gyarados releases and is forced to retreat.

Angel stares up at the blue pokemon's angry features and silently gulps as the face contorts into an angrier scowl. Her fingers tremble over her pokeballs and she throws out the first one to leap into her palm.

Mystic swirls into the air and stares at the raging serpent below him, hindered to the ground. He somersaults to avoid a Dragon Pulse and releases one of his own. The multicolored beam explodes on contact and the gyarados roars in anger. He catches the hand motion in the corner of his eye and dive bombs into the water that the water type was called out into. His three sets of fangs, all cloaked in sparking electricity, sink into the neck of the pokemon. The sea serpent coils in pain and throws Mystic off as energy crackles around it. It launches its head at the dragon.

"Now Mystic, Dark Pulse!"

The plasma beam is fired into the gaping mouth and a boom is heard as it makes contact. The gyarados falls into its pool of water.

Angel furrows her brow at Cyrus' last pokemon. It's medium size body hovers above the ground and its purple hue matches the Distortion World's backdrop nicely.

"You told me that you don't care about your pokemon, but obviously they don't think so."

Cyrus glances at his crobat, who turns to look at him. His blue eyes spark slightly for a moment before he motions the pokemon forward.

A small light circles Mystic who automatically starts swirling in confusion. His eyes darken as he starts releasing random attacks and ramming into the floating boulders.

The dragon is called back into his pokeball and Calamity takes center stage again. Crobat jibbers at the child before it claps its wings together and hits Calamity square in the ruff with an Air Slash.

Angel nods slightly. Cynthia isn't sure to who, for Calamity didn't immediately make a move afterwards. She does notice however, how Angel and Calamity decide to defend more than attack. The opposite of the duo's normal damage oriented battle style. It's a vocal fight too. Calamity and the crobat cry at each other. An oddity because of Calamity's serious nature in battle and overall mute tendencies when she isn't talking to Angel. The platinum doesn't seem to mind either. Her violet eyes bright with a mysterious curiosity.

The absol catches the bat creature in its mouth with a Bite when it comes in close with a Cross Poison. It's thrown into the air and thrown back to Cyrus with a Psycho Cut.

Cyrus stares at his crobat's pokeball before pocketing it and digging through his jacket. He throws an object at Angel and she reaches up to grasp it from the air.

"If you desire to destroy my one joy so much go ahead. I feel that that beast will give you a piece of its mind." He stalks off onto an invisible land mass and leaves the girls alone.

Cynthia approaches Angel and gives her head an affectionate pet. The child smiles up at her and opens her palms to reveal the object thrown at her. The item seemed to be a small orb. It was an odd gold color, had angular points, and smooth sides. Angel runs her fingers over the orb.

"What is it?"

Cynthia offers her open hands and feels the object get dropped into her palms. She examines the orb for a moment before giving it back to Angel.

"I believe it's that orb Cyrus was talking about. In fact, it reminds me of the Lustrous and the Adamant orb. Although, much smaller."

Angel rotated it to see all of its sides and her eyes narrowed in on the small red jewel stuck to one side. She stuck a nail under it and examined the jewel. Calamity growled at it and, taking her advice, Angel threw it over the edge into the abyss below.

The orb in her hands glowed as the red shard disappeared and quickly grew in size, taking up almost all the child's arm space.

"That red piece must've been part of the red chain. It diminished its power and allowed Cyrus to control it." Angel muttered, remembering her notebook hidden away in her room at the League between the box spring and the mattress. Angel freezes as the realization hits her like a rampaging Bouffalant. "That thing's free now."

Cynthia pulls Angel to her when the large shadow blocks the small amount of light when it passes overhead. They both look up at the large serpentine dragon. Its golden crown glints and its neck appendages flare out when it sees its orb. The pokemon's red eyes stare at the two and a piercing screech creates visible waves of sound that pushes the two blondes' hair back.

The platinum gulps and buries her face in Cynthia's jacket. Cynthia tightens her grip on Angel as Giratina stares down at them.


	32. Chapter 32

**I wrote this really last minute because I've been playing Moon all weekend. So sorry for any errors. It might be easier to say Giratina's lines out loud to understand the hissy speech.**

Angel feels the stare of the terrifying dragon hovering before them. Its beady eyes stares at the duo and a hiss exhales from its muzzle. The platinum turns her face away from Cynthia's chest and slowly flits her eyes to look at the giant.

"Iahh Khll Zyu."

The violet eyes widen and her breathing accelerates when she unscrambles the pronunciations. She pushes out of Cynthia's arm and sprints forward. The dragon senses her intent and breaks the part of the land away. It ignores the hatchling's mother's frantic pleas, although a slight pain appears in its chest as it brought the small morsel to eye level.

The ancient voice growls and the legendary is slightly thrilled by the way the rumble made the hatchling before it tremble.

"Y-you need to calm down Giratina… I-I don't want to disrespect you, but-but if you go out of control… your power will distort the dimension and-and…" Angel feels the lump stick in her throat as she tries to swallow.

"Whatz kar you kryin to zay tu me?"

"Nothing! Just-just that we-we'll leave. We-we'll even take Cyrus and you can be left alone again."

The monster roars at her and Angel is forced back again. The black pupil constrict into slits and the child purses her lips to withhold her scared scream.

"Whach your whords hatchling."The dragon warns in a serpentine hiss.

"I-I'm sorry. I thought… why are you here Giratina?" Angel inquires meekly as she starts inching forward again.

"Whyy doez tis conzern yoou?"

"Because you don't seem to enjoy being lonely."

The creature pauses for a moment to consider the question before twisting around and flying to a separate sector of the dimension. Angel's little chunk of rock follows after the long body and they come to a stop in front of a portal. The black tendrils move aside to allow the child to peer through the small dimensional window.

"Tis is ta only whindow tu your world here." The voice softens slightly as it stares outward.

The platinum glances through the wavy pool and takes a glimpse at the cavern on the other side. Rocky walls surround the small light at the end of the tunnel and, if she squinted, she could make out the outline of a bank of water in the background. A tiny spot of beauty amongst a dark, murky interior.

"Why are you here Giratina?"

"Some things, hatchling, chan't be fixzed. Thare are things thaat can't be atoned for."

"Like what?"

The dragon returns its gaze to the portal, "Iah turned on ta ahlpha. You humans called hem Arceus. Iah gat shik of Dialga and Palkia fhighting for trespassing on each other's tarritory. Iah attacked them; chauzhed a war amongst the legendaries. Then turned my attacks on tah alpha wheen he appeared to breahk up the fight. It haz been over a millennia shince I've seen the sun rise."

Angel pauses to consider the fact and brings a hand to her waist. Giratina turns to watch and glares skeptically at the small contraption. It stares at the pokeball held before its face.

"I-I can take you away from here. We-we can travel together and, and if you don't like me I will release you. I-I can let you see the sunrise again."

The legendary stares at the little red sphere before turning its eyes towards the blonde, "I'm nhot ahllowed ta lheave my dimension. Arceus wouldn't allow it."

"Everyone deserves a second chance Giratina. A millenia of loneliness: isn't that enough punishment? Come with me. Join my adventures."

The beast doesn't respond, but leans forward and nudges the button with its nose. A white glare erupts and the colossal creature is absorbed into the pokeball. The ball shakes slowly and Angel waits for it to burst open. However, after three long shakes it settles and stops glowing.

Angel raises the ball and Giratina pops out. It watches curiously as its new trainer raises the orb. The obsidian tendrils reach out and gingerly grasps its orb. The irregularly shaped object is placed besides its skin where is glows as it sinks into the body for safe keeping.

"Can you get me back to my Mama?"

The creature nods and zooms across the dimension towards the blonde mother. Angel's island follows.

Angel jumps off the land mass and is instantly grasped by Cynthia into an almost painful embrace. The champion stare warily at the the renegade that she saw get absorbed into a single pokeball. The child notices and nudges her mother slightly in the ribs.

"It's fine Mama. Giratina's going to join me for now."

Angel places the new recruit on her waist and turn stiffly at the clapping in the distance.

Cyrus stands stoically. His dead eyes sparkle slightly, "You got to it before I could. A mere child caught that monster in a single pokeball." The man hmphs before throwing a small bag at the child.

"Take them. I don't need them anymore."

The two blondes turn their gaze to the cloth bag and Angel pulls at the strings. Six travel sized pokeballs lay inside the knapsack.

"Why… Cyrus?" Angel asks into the empty space.

The man was gone.

"Where'd he go Mama?"

"I don't know. It doesn't matter, let's go home."

Giratina twitches slightly and hovers over the piece of land, waiting patiently for the two to board the island, before guiding them both to its portal. The dragon condenses into its new home and the duo passes through the portal.

…

"This… this was not what I was expecting to be on the other side of the Distortion World." Cynthia states as takes in the pristine scenery surrounding her and her daughter.

"What is this place Mama?" Angel asks as she splits off to explore the lake. Her small hands run along the sides of the depression's rock walls and squints to see the grassy blades at the top of the cliff's plateau.

"They call it Sendoff Spring. Not many people know of it because they keep it off maps, but it is said to be where spirits leave this world."

"So peaceful. To stare at this for a millennia and not be able to reach it…"

Cynthia stares at her strangely, but doesn't pry and heaves the child onto her hip. "Come on, Love. Call out Mystic and let's go home."


	33. Chapter 33

**Thanks for the reviews guys**

Angel is lightly shaken and she flutters her eyes open. She groans at her mother's face filling her vision and she hmphs before burrowing herself into the car cushion. Cynthia crosses her arm at the adamant child's actions and forces her hands under the small figure. The platinum shifts to readjust and buries her face into the crook of the champion's neck.

"Long day eh Boss?" Flint asks as he goes to meet the duo outside Rowan's lab.

"I have the aching suspicion that my arms are going to be tired by the end of the day." The blonde replies.

"You'll get used to it again," Aaron interjects from the threshold and holds the doors open for the two girls.

"Cynthia," Rowan greets as the four enter the room. "Can I get you anything?"

"Something a child would eat. I need to get a meal in her," Cynthia replies as she sits on one of the sofas.

An assistant runs off to fill the request and skids to dodge the gym leaders streaming into the room. Candice plops down next to Maylene opposite the two blondes and waves to a drowsy Angel who was making an attempt at not appearing dead. A plate was dropped onto the table, stacked to the capacity with whatever the aid could find. Cynthia nudges the platinum, who shifts to look at the food, and promptly scrunches her nose in distaste at the thought of swallowing so much food after not eating anything substantial in awhile.

"You don't have to eat a lot. Just eat something," Cynthia pleads and hands her a piece of bread made out of various berries. Angel grumbles but nibbles on it begrudgingly.

"What happened?" Lucian asks from his position by the wall.

"We warped to a dimension I believe is parallel to ours. It's all distorted. Gravity keeps you grounded, but land masses float every which way… We found Cyrus."

"No way!" Flint yells as he jumps up in excitement.

"What happened?" Candice asks as she leans forward in her seat.

"Angel defeated him, but I'm not sure what happened to him. He gave Angel his pokeballs and just disappeared."

"We won't have to worry about him anymore Mama… I felt Crobat's cry through its pokeball. He jumped…" Angel mutters.

"What do you mean kid?" Byron asks.

"He jumped off the land mass."

There's a moment of silence and Cynthia automatically pulls the child closer to her side.

"What are you going to do with his pokemon?" Rowan asks Angel.

Angel smiles slightly and looks up, "I'm going on a trip. You can't come." She states as she looks up at Cynthia.

The champion furrows her brows, "What do you mean I can't come?"

"You can't come." Angel replies and gives a cheeky smile at the blank face she receives. "I have a few loose ends to tie up. I'll be back in a few days."

Cynthia wraps her arms around her waist to prevent her from leaping off the couch, "No way are you going anywhere."

The child's cheeks puff and she widens her eyes at the adult. They stay in this position for a few moments, Angel staring at her mother with lillipup eyes and Cynthia trying to look stern.

Cynthia grimaces, "Fine."

"Yay!" Angel jumps off and skids to the door. She makes a turn when the champion reminds her to go heal her pokemon.

The gym leaders are chuckling at the encounter that just occurred. Lucian looks at the blonde.

"You're following her, aren't you?"

"Yup."

…

Calamity rubs up against her trainer as they approach the house in the rural outskirts of Hearthome City. She raises a small fist to knock on the door and smiles slightly at the two fourteen year olds that open the door.

"Hi. I have a delivery for you!"

"Uh," the male responds as the duo leaves their house.

Angel unlatches two pokeballs on her belt and the female straightens at the sight. The spheres unlatch and Glameow and Houndour attack their trainers in gleeful excitement.

"Glameow!"

"Houndour!"

"Where did you find them?" The sister asks as her twin brother rolls around on the ground with his pokemon. Glameow clutched in her arms.

"Let's just say I infiltrated Team Galactic. These two wouldn't stop talking about you two and I promised to return them to you." Angel replies as she leans down to pet Glameow.

The feline chatters at Angel in thanks and Houndour howls in the background. The twins stare at her oddly, but ignore the unusual fact. Angel stands up.

"I have to go now. I have another pokemon to return."

"You sure kid? Our mom would give you something to eat." The male asks as he walks over.

"Yeah, thanks though. I have to get to a Pokemon Center and make a call."

"Okay kid." The twins wave goodbye as Angel flies away.

In the distance, Cynthia pats Garchomp and bids her dragon to follow the little girl.

…

The next morning Angel yawns as she shuffles out of the Pokemon Center in a delirious haze. She tiredly munches on the remainder of her breakfast and dodges Mystic's attempt to eat it.

"We're going to Snowpoint… No we're not going to get lost again!" The platinum hisses at her dragon's jeering.

She clambers onto the pokemon and settles between the ruffle of wings. A small hands gives a reassuring pat as they lift off. Angel has Mystic slow and turns to look behind her. She shrugs before returning to her business.

Cynthia and Garchomp release a relieved sigh from the shadows of a building.

Angel sits at a table in Snowpoint's Pokemon Center. Calamity lays at her feet and nibbles at the kibble in her dish. The platinum munches on her own lunch, kindly provided by Nurse Joy as an elderly man enters the building through the automatic doors to sit opposite her.

"I assume you're Angel."

"Hm hum. That's me," Angel replies with a cheery voice before she sombres, "I have something for you."

The child gingerly places the cloth bag onto the table. She grabs one of the pokeballs residing inside and unlatches the device. A white glare blinds the man before he stares at the pokemon is astonishment.

"Crobat! Why, I'd recognize that chipped tooth anywhere! But, if you're here then where's…" The man stares at Angel. Waiting for answers.

"I infiltrated Team Galactic who planned on reopening the portal your grandson had disappeared into. I confronted him, battled him, and he gave me his pokeballs. Cro-crobat and I have come to the conclusion that-that he jumped… I-I'm sorry."

The elderly man patted Crobat on the head and took the bag of pokeballs. He looked inside and gently stroked each one, "I see. Don't fret, young one. Cyrus was always a lonely and anti-social boy with a grudge against the war. I should've taken him with me when I moved. I made my decision. You did what was right, and I can see you are sad at the final outcome for my grandson. Thank you."

There is a moment of silence as Angel considers his words. Her violet eyes jerk up when the gentleman stands and points a thumb over his shoulder.

"Im'ma gonna go so your mother will stop staring at me like I'm a kidnapper. Thank you," Angel and the man shake hands before he leaves. The child follows the direction he tips his hat in and puffs out her cheeks when she makes eye contact with Cynthia.

The champion smiles sheepishly as she approaches her pouting daughter. She slides into the seat beside Angel and laughs at the annoyed expression.

"I'm sorry?"

"No you're not," Angel grumbles.

…

Cynthia stirs and rolls over in her bed at the persistent jabbing at her shoulder. Her blurry vision shows Angel staring at her hesitantly and Calamity matching the expression at her bedside.

"What's wrong Love?" She asks as she sits up and pulls the child into her lap. Cynthia wraps her arms around her baby's midsection and resists the urge to fall back to sleep.

"I'm going out. You want to come?" Angel asks.

"Where are you going? Can't it wait 'til sunrise at least?" The end of her question is cut off by a yawn.

Angel viciously shakes her head no and wriggles out of Cynthia's grasp and onto the floor. She hops around impatiently as Cynthia dresses and drags her mother out of their room and up the pokemon center's stairs. The blonde doesn't question where they're going, but does furrow her brows when Angel pushes through the door leading to the roof.

The platinum returns Calamity to her sphere and unlatches another pokeball from her waist, throwing it skyward. The white glare clears to show the renegade itself and it hovers over the top of the roof to avoid possibly collapsing the building. It stares at Angel in confusion and a quiet murmur escapes its mouth.

"I said I'd let you see the sunrise again didn't I?"

It phantom wings, an accessory that comes with its altered form, fidget at the gesture and returns it gaze toward the general area of the upcoming sunrise.

Cynthia stares on in slight awe and slight discomfort at her daughter being so friendly with a creature that would have destroyed their world and them in the process had it not been reasoned with. Her stare causes Giratina to turn to look at her and she freezes under the red eyes.

"Don't worry Mama. She won't hurt me," Angel reassures and gives the legendary a pat.

Cynthia with holds her surprise over the gender and nods at her daughter. All three huddle together to fend off the cold. The legendary pokemon straightens when the first warm ways seep over the white horizon and its wings flutter in excitement. Angel cuddles into her mother's side as they watch the sun begin to ascend.


	34. Chapter 34

**You guys might hate me with the new character. Name pronunciations: Yara (Yah Rah) Zaki (Zah key)**

Cynthia wasn't sure if Angel's obsession with sleeping was natural for a six year old, for she found herself carrying the napping child around habitually. The blonde loved to hold her child, but carrying her was about a twenty pound difference to having Angel on her lap. She grunts as she stands up and walks down the metal staircase from the League's private jet; the pilot kindly brings their travel bags to the waiting cab and helps Cynthia shuffle in with her sleeping cargo before giving a tip of his hat and leaving.

Angel wakes long enough to scowl at her mother and help carry their traveling bags up to their room at Hotel Richissime.

"Stop that," Cynthia chided as they placed their bags on the beds inside the posh suite.

"You know I hate fancy hotels! It's weird! Like they know I'm some street rat." Angel complains as she crosses her arms in annoyance.

Cynthia leans down and draws her pouting child into her arms. She places a kiss on Angel's forehead and looks the platinum in her violet eyes.

"You don't have to worry about snobby rich people. If they bug you I'll deal with them, alright Love? Smile please? I'll get you ice cream after we leave the Lab." The champion bribes.

The offer elicit a subtle eye roll and a small smile, "You realize giving children whatever they want is called spoiling and that's a bad thing right?"

"Why are you complaining? You know the ice cream is more for me anyway." The adult jokes as she grasps the child to swing her around and airplanes her onto the bed.

Angel lets out a giggle and starts bouncing on the bed, bobbing on the mattress like a rubber ducklet in water.

"Why did you book a room anyway? We're just here to tell Sycamore that he's not stuck with me." She asks as she leans onto all fours to stabilize her balance.

"He wouldn't think of it that way. Besides we're delivering good news," Cynthia states as she opens a bottle of water from the mini fridge in the corner.

"That you love me and have decided to deal with me even though I made everyone think I turned evil?" Angel flippantly asks as Cynthia sits beside her on the bed, causing the mother to slightly choke and slosh her water onto her hand.

The slate gray eyes catch her Angel looking at her expectantly. Her eyes glowing with insecurity as she waits for the surrogate mother to respond. Cynthia smiles, wraps an arm around the child, and pulls her in for another hug.

"I knew that Mercury was never my Angel."

"Being Mercury made it easier to do what I didn't want to. In all honesty, I'm surprised you aren't sending me back."

Cynthia pulls her baby onto her lap and shifts her so they faced each other, "Don't worry about that Angel. I promise that I'll never send you away." She holds up a pinkie to seal the contract.

Angel scoffs, "I'm way to old for that…"

She hooks her pinky with Cynthia regardless.

…

Angel pulls her mother through Sycamore's gates with an excited fever. She barges through the front doors and drops her backpack on the floor. Cynthia reaches out swiftly and wraps an arm around the child's waist to keep her from attempting to barrel through the metal door to one of the laboratory rooms.

"Hey!" Angel yelps out in annoyance as she's flipped to face her mother, her fingers grasp Cynthia's jacket to stay upright.

"What the? Angel?" Sycamore and Sophie poke their heads out the door before crossing the threshold.

"Hi Sycamore!" Angel chirps.

"Good evening Professor. I hope you're well." Cynthia greets as she places the wriggling child onto the ground.

"Er, good evening?" The professor casts a side glance at Sophie before looking back at the champion. "You're here to drop off Angel?"

The blonde furrows her eyebrows in slight confusion before it clears and she raises a hand to muffle a laugh, "Right, we never told you. No, Angel's staying right next to me. Right, Love?" Cynthia places a hand on Angel's head as the little girl wraps two arms around the champion's legs in an act of affection.

"Marevelous!" Sycamore cries out happily.

"Yes, indeed. But, I am curious…" Sophie trails off.

"Ah, yes. Go have fun Angel. I'll deal with this." Cynthia hands her daughter a few bills, "Go buy something sweet. And eat it yourself. Don't give it to your pokemon."

Angel yields to the light push and scampers out the doors; her luxury ball breaking open as Calamity released herself to run alongside her trainer.

"So, I have a story to tell, but after I have a favor to ask."

…

Angel slides one galette into her bag for Cynthia and splits the other with Calamity. The absol jumps to grab the propelling desert and her teeth tear into the treat. She turns when Calamity looks up and they watch the incoming figures.

"Mama!" She screeches before blushing when a good amount of people turn to stare at her. She slinks towards her mother to hide in the adult's jacket.

"Hello Love. We were going to head over to one of the restaurants to eat."

"Okay…" Angel trails off hesitantly, "Can we make a detour?"

"Sure. To where?" Cynthia asks.

"My Daddy's old apartment?"

Calamity has to force the lock with a Mega Horn and when the door swings open all four coughs up a storm from the dust cloud the opening door created. Angel stares at her old living room before taking a slow step forward. Cynthia follows Angel inside and catches a glimpse at the sun bleached picture of a even smaller Angel being held up by a man sporting platinum hair and blue eyes.

Said child notices and turns, "Apparently, the only thing I got from Daddy was my hair. He told me that I got the rest from my birth mother."

Angel searches around and pulls a book off the wall. She dusts it off before she runs over to Cynthia and pushes the photo album into her face. The blonde takes the old book gingerly and watches her go over to a desk, pull a keyout of its hiding spot in the chair, and unlocks the drawer.

"What are you looking for?" Cynthia asks as she places the book under her arm.

"My dad's journal… He never let me touch it, but I know he kept it here." Angel shoves through a couple of old papers and digs deeper into the compartment. Her fingers latch onto a leather bound journal and drags it out of hiding.

She fingers through the yellowing pages and a piece of tattered paper slips onto the ground. She looks at the picture, a scene from a beach, and flips it to read the postcard hailing from Johto.

I'm sorry. I'm not coming back.

Take care of Arella the way I know I can't.

Yara

Angel stares at the note in shock. Yara, so that was her birth mother's name.

"What is it?" Cynthia's voice breaks through Angel's little bubble and the child hastily shoves the card back into the journal.

"Nothing. Uh, let's go okay. I'm hungry." Angel pivots and zooms out the door, only to ram into something and have feminine arms wrap around her.

The platinum squirms to be released. Only Cynthia is allowed to hold her.

"Hey, hey. Calm down," The stranger tries to soothe.

"Angel, what's going on?" Cynthia's voice filters through doorway as she, Sycamore, and Sophie cross the threshold.

The child breaks free from the loosened arms and sprints to her foster mother. Cynthia catches her baby in her arms and brings her up onto her hip to stare at the woman before them.

She had pale skin and a short frame, much like Angel. She sported Angel's petite nose and round face, although she lacked Angel's baby face chub. Cynthia wraps her arms around Angel tighter as her brain clicks the information into place.

The foreigner looks behind her and her brown eyes darken, "What were you doing in there?" She hisses. "That's my boyfriend's apartment."

"My daddy's been dead for three years," Angel states firmly from her spot and stares at the person with growing distaste.

"Your da…" The woman trails off before asking hesitantly, "Arella?"

"Don't call me that! That was Daddy's name for me. You don't get to use it. No one gets to use it."

"I-I'm sorry," The anxious woman stutters.

"Angel, love, calm down." Cynthia tries to soothe the child and looks at the opposing woman. "I'm sorry. I'm Cynthia."

"Yara. I-I'm Ar-Angel's mother."

The champion feels the little fist tighten on her jacket and the negative pulse that Angel radiates.

"Can we invite you to dinner?"

"Put me down Mama," Angel demands and Cynthia concedes. Calamity takes her place in Angel's arms and casts judging eyes on Yara.

Yara shifts uncomfortably under the absol's gaze and looks at Cynthia. "I don't mean to intrude and as rude as this is, I have an appointment. But, I'm free tomorrow. We can meet at a café, Lysandre's Café."

"Do you know Lysandre?" Sycamore asks and continues when Yara nods. "You know what happened to him, correct?"

"Yes, I heard that he and his creation, Team Flare, almost wiped out the region. My apologies. I had returned to Kalos to try to reconcile with Xavier. I had assumed he'd taken over the businesses since his brother's questionable fate, but..." Yara turns her attention back to Cynthia. "So, tomorrow."

"We'll be there."

 **I know that the names are weird (really just Yara) but I wanted them to be a X and a Y. BTW you guys should look up what Arella means.**


	35. Chapter 35

**Last chapter! Sequel will be up on Monday. Sorry if the ending seemed anticlimactic, you'll see what I wanted to save for the beginning of the next book.**

Angel is forcibly dressed into a pair of leggings and a blouse before she is dragged out of the hotel around noon by Cynthia. The mother grabs a taxi and the metallic cage opens its doors. Calamity is pushed into the car by the adult along with her trainer, both begrudgingly sitting down on the leather and pouting at the blonde before them.

Angel had offered to walk them to the cafe and save a few hundred poke, but Cynthia denied; she didn't trust Angel not to lead her on a wild goose chase around the largest city in the region to avoid the upcoming. For as long as she could remember she avoided that café like the plague and with good reason. The child never wanted to acknowledge the fact that she had family besides her father, especially after the first meeting she had with her uncle that ended in a very vocal dispute and Angel hiding under a table for the majority of the visit. As far as she was concerned her father was her family, her pokemon were her family, and now Cynthia's her family. She didn't need to know Yara or her anyone who shares her bloodline. Besides, when you're bloodline gets connected to a man that tried destroy the region, you don't go flaunting it. Even if it can be traced back to Kalosite royalty.

A shuffle makes the child turn her head and her violet eyes catch a glance at the old photo album. It was the one she had snatched off the bookshelf and Angel casts questioning eyes on her mother.

"I thought it'd be a nice thing to go through with Yara."

"Why are we going. Can't we just go home?" Angel whines.

"Why don't you want to get to know your moth-"

"You're me mama!" Angel cuts off before lowering her tone. "You're my mama. I don't want her. She left me. I don't want to be called Arella because you gave me the name Angel. I-I don't want you to leave me with a person I don't know."

Cynthia smiles in sympathy and reaches across the seat to pull the child onto her lap, "Angel, blood or not, you are my daughter. Alright, Love? I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

…

Lunch is awkward. Angel shifts uncomfortably at the feeling of Yara's eyes drilling holes into her soul and Cynthia wasn't easing her guilt at all by glancing occasionally at her while casually carrying on conversation as if this other woman wasn't of any importance. She stabs her food in frustration.

"You went to Johto correct?" Cynthia asks the other adult who looks up from the photo album placed between them.

"Oh, yes. I did. I was there helping out a friend with his business. He… He actually proposed to me… I- I came back to see Xavier to tie up my loose ends."

Angel secretly winces and stuffs a piece of pasta into her mouth. Loose ends… perhaps that's how a lot of people viewed her.

"I-I have no intention of taking Ar-Angel from you Cynthia. I know I gave up any right as a mother the night I left. But, I'm happy that you were the one to take her in and that she's happy." The brunette turns to her daughter, "I-I know I should houldn't be asking you this Angel, but what happened? How did Xavier die?" Yara stammers.

Angel looks up from her plate, scattered bits of her vegetables thrown around her plate from bored probing, and latches eyes with the woman. The platinum hesitates, obviously uncomfortable with the subject. Cynthia didn't relieve any of the pressure choking her throat. The other blonde was just as curious, for the topic of Angel's father always caused the girl to clam up.

"We went out into the forest to heal a pokemon I saw injured when I was playing on the playground. A thunderstorm started while we were out there and hit one of the trees. It caught fire and fell on Daddy… The absol we were helping brought me back and went back for him, but I never saw either of them again. I went out looking for it, but I found Calamity's egg instead. I assume he died in the forest fire."

Cynthia stares at her, wide eyed, and automatically pulls her onto her lap to wrap her arms around the child. Angel purses her lips and wrings her hands tighter as walls of flames and black smoke fills her vision. She blinks her purple eyes to rid of the scene and gives a slight shake to propel it out of her head.

"I-I'm so sorry," Yara stammers out.

Angel only shrugs her indifference.

After they eat Cynthia excuses herself to go to the bathroom. Angel wasn't sure if the champion actually needed to go or if it was Cynthia's silent plea for Angel to communicate with Yara. Knowing her parent, Angel pushes her plate to the side of the table and grips the photo album between them. She flips to a page towards the center and swings the large book around to face her birth mother. Yara flinches in surprise before pulling the album closer to look at it. Her finger runs over the pictures of a two year old Angel and her father.

"I know that Cynthia wants me to talk to you, but I don't know what to say. You can look through those if you want."

"Thank you Angel," She stated softly as she fingers through the pictures. She laughs slightly at the picture of Angel wrapped up in Christmas lights and the one where Xavier is trying to get a baby Angel to smile.

The child digs through her bag beside the table and pulls out a wrinkled picture from one of the pockets. She slides the picture across the wooden platform and Yara takes a glance at the picture. She picks the family portrait up.

"You can keep that one. Apparently Daddy had a few of those hidden in his journal that he never let me see…"

"Angel," The child looks up, "I know you don't view me as your mother. That's fine and I can tell you don't want me interfering with the life that you've created for yourself. So I won't."

The platinum nods her thanks and jumps out of her seat when she sees Cynthia round the corner back towards them.

"You okay, Love?" The champion asks as she leans down to pick the child up.

Angel shakes her head and turns to Yara, "I'm glad I got to meet you Yara. I'm sure that Daddy would've said you can be with your friend."

The brunette smiles, "Thank you Angel."

…

Angel stares out the airplane window and waves goodbye to the few people seeing them off. Her arm clutches her photo album as Yara, Sycamore, and Sophie get smaller as the plane gathers speed and starts to rise into the air. She abandons her seat when the belt light turns off and propels herself into her mother's lap. Cynthia gives a umph as the child knocks the air out of her lungs.

"What'cha lookin' at?"

"Nothing important. Just a file that Sycamore gave me," She places the large file on the table besides her and wraps her arms around Angel. Her lips graze Angel's forehead, "I'm sorry about your father."

"I try not to think about it. Daddy wouldn't want me to be sad over it and besides I have you now right? You and Garchomp and all your other pokemon too."

Cynthia smiles and pets Angel's wild locks down, "That's right. You have me and Garchomp."

Angel smiles and rests her head against Cynthia's chest. She feels her pokeballs wiggle at her waist and a small smile makes it's way across her face. The platinum tightens her grip and Cynthia hugs tighter in response.

"I'm happy that you named me Mama."

"You are my little angel, Love." Cynthia reminds. "My little angel that can talk to pokemon and has the sweetest smile."

The comment only makes Angel's smile widen.


End file.
